The Guardian Cu'
by Cu'Cebhfhion
Summary: This story has been updated with Chapter 15..see disclaimer for explanation of the odd numbering going on.When you're a Deity who says you can't interfere to make sure things go in the right direction. The M is for an occasional bit of florid language.
1. Chapter 1

**This is a combination of my previous first 2 chapters since the document manager wouldn't allow me to upload Chapter 15. Knowing of no other way to get around this little problem..yes in some ways I am incredibly dense..this was my solution.**

**I do not own any of the wonderful characters created by Rumiko Takahashi in her wonderful story of InuYasha. I make no money, nor do I seek to profit from what I have written here.**

**I do however make one small claim.. Cu' is mine. He and I are very good friends and should you abuse him I will have him crush your flower.**

**I have never written anything before, please be kind.....or see directly above.**

The Guardian Cu'

Chapter One

"It is time again, Cu'." The Speaker's voice was quiet, devoid of emotion, without gender, without age, it existed only in the mind's ear of an audience of one.

With a resigned sigh the Listener stretched then sat upright to gaze downhill at a meadow thick with white flowers scattered throughout tall, silvery green blades of grass standing motionless beneath a cloudless dark blue sky. For a moment all of time and creation were held in absolute stillness before the breath of a distant wind stirred the grass to life like verdant waves across a calm inland sea.

" What is it this time?" was the Listener's question, spoken aloud even though there was no one visibly present to address it to.

" Something you will enjoy. A new test," Only the faintest of chuckles lent color to the Speaker's voice as it attempted to prick at the Listener's curiosity. " A growing free form ripple on Earthward has just been born. It is imperative to keep such an event in check. To ignore this threat risks shifting the planar balance towards Chaos. As Guardian you will not allow this to happen."

" Always Earthward... was I so misguided in thinking that after the last time things were finally settling down there? Why does Chaos insist on interfering within a plane in my keeping that is still infested by so many immature young souls?"

" Disruption in the nursery seems to keep you on your toes, Cu'. Maybe that is why these little interruptions occur there so frequently."

Flashing a strange halfhearted smile, the Listener stood up with a rueful shake of the head. " And here I was entertaining the obviously delusional idea that Earthward had at last grown quieter. My older children will not be happy about this at all."

" Might I remind you that you are always searching for opportunities to improve them..."

A light breeze lovingly caressed the Listener's cheek, blowing long silky strands of dark silver hair across a deceptively youthful face. Leaning into the soft airy hand the Listener merely shrugged in reply.

" It cannot be helped Cu'. This balance must not be tipped." The inner voice began to grow warmer, softer, in an auditory caress as gentle as the freshening breeze.

" How much freedom to act do I have?"

" As much as you need, this is after all your jurisdiction. How you deal with it is entirely your call..."

" Really?" With a sly grin the Listener began striding down the hillside into the field of white flowers. " So...however I deem fit to act is perfectly acceptable?"

" Within reason and the limits of Earthward, Cu'," there was the mildest hint of irritation in the voice at the remembrance of what the unseen Speaker referred to as the Listener's past 'indiscretions'. " No hand of God this time if you please...and try to refrain from creating another religion down there. Those young souls are confused enough as it is without you muddying things up even more."

" What fun is it to be a Deity if you can't instigate a new religion or two..."

There was a discreet cough as the Speaker mumbled something that sounded a great deal like "..two my ass.."

Of course the Listener felt completely justified in ignoring the unsolicited comment and continued on without the slightest pause ".... now and then? Besides, I have only given them good advice to live by. It's not my fault they keep insisting on misinterpreting a very simple message...."

There was another not so discreet cough which sounded suspiciously like a thinly disguised scoff causing the Listener to indignantly protest, " Oh now, don't even go there...that whole escapade was put into motion entirely by sheer unadulterated desperation the last time. If I hadn't personally intervened the last ripple would have irreparably toppled the balance and the whole plane would have been in ruins for a far longer age than I wish for it lie idle."

Careful not to damage any of the nearby blossoms, which were rapidly bleeding out their ethereal pristine white in favor of bolder hues chosen from a palette of vibrant color, the Listener walked slowly into the middle of the field, bright silver colored eyes searching for a certain conjoined pair of flowers.

" So....where has this little problem popped up?" the inquiry was almost casual, tossed out like an afterthought.

" The large northern archipelago just to the east of the Ward's greatest landmass. There apparently is much civil unrest there at this point in time...or at least there shortly will be. Times of mortal turmoil always lend the perfect cover for a Chaos event. No doubt that is why the ripple chose to manifest there."

" Interesting..." Bending down, the Listener harvested a pair of still white blossoms growing so closely together on a single stem that from a distance they appeared to be a single large flower. Holding them gently in the cup of what had now become a very masculine pair of hands, the silver haired figure paused to reassure the unseen Speaker in a noticeably lower pitched voice. "I will do much better this time." As he spoke the snowy treasures that he held so carefully pulsed into a vital, bright shade of red.

Again the breeze caressed a smooth cheek. " All here hold only undeniable appreciation for all of your efforts Cu', but please try to remember, Earthward can no longer play host to too many miracles. That is not it's destiny."

"Understood and any I see fit to perform will be … much more subtle than the last time." With a guarded smile the Listener contemplated the pair of flowers he held, admiring how closely they clung together in spite of their fragile perfection. " How long do I have to prepare?

An uncharacteristic trace of guilt colored the quiet reply, "Almost two and a quarter of Earthward's centuries..."

" So this is how you get me back, by waiting until nearly the last minute to drop this on me." A noticeably disgruntled scowl clouded the Listener's face. "That isn't very much time to set things up properly …. you do know that?"

"It is well known that your solutions are always the most inspired when you are under pressure, Cu'. Of all the Guardian's, none do so much with so little as you."

Throwing back his head the Listener laughed at the offhanded compliment. "Get out of my mind then and let me get to work...Damn I've probably already wasted several years just talking with you."

"As you wish , Cu'." Softly as a sigh on the wind, the Speaker's voice faded from the mind's ear of the Listener leaving behind an image and the information surrounding the recent birth of the impending chaos ripple.

The Guardian Cu' reflected on the image left behind. "Why is it that such initially innocuous appearing things always seem to inspire so much future mischief ?" Smiling down at the flowers still cradled in his hands, Cu' face beamed radiantly. "This of course may be just the very task you two need to complete your journey, my most perfect children." Cu' tucked the flower's single stem into the sash at his waist before reaching back down to pick a pale pink blossom that had been growing next to the already gathered pair. As he cupped his long fingers around the flower, Cu' whispered an almost silent incantation, before blowing a single breath over the translucent petals. The flower glowed, pulsated and became a living sphere of bright white light dancing just above the palm of the Guardian's hand.

" Go," was his simple command to the sphere of light, which promptly shot up into the air and disappeared into the cloudless dark blue sky.

Satisfied, Cu' patted the flowers adorning his sash, held up his right hand, took a step forward and entered Earthward resting within the arms of time. His point of entry was just under the eaves of a deeply shadowed green forest edging a gently sloping expanse of grassy meadowland. Below a sun dappled brown river lazily snaked it's way across the valley floor, the near bank dotted with a scattering of small huts cut through by a dusty road mirroring the water course. Several fields near the village had been dammed and flooded for the cultivation of rice, with a fine show of pale green shoots already heralding what promised to be a bountiful crop this year.

Cu' smiled at the tranquil scene before turning into the forest to search for what he already knew stood close by. Pausing for a moment next to an abandoned dry well, he idly stroked the lip of the wooden guard surrounding the deep hole in the ground while quietly scanning the surrounding trees.

" Now, the anchor should be very near... just.." he turned then grinned as his eye was caught by a singular tree proudly crowned in white blossoms. " Ah, there....and you are perfect."

Making a careful path over to his quarry, Cu' gazed up into it's leafy heights appreciatively before laying a hand against the smooth bark to feel the soul of the tree vibrate in recognition beneath his outstretched fingers. In the lives of trees this one was already very old, it's straight trunk and symmetrical canopy quite unimpeded by the growth of the surrounding forest which had only begun to flourish around it over the last several centuries. It commanded a clearing all it's own, with the only vegetation encroaching upon its gnarled roots being a carpet of thick grass and soft deep green moss.

Reaching down, Cu' plucked a petal from both centers of the conjoined flowers adorning his sash. Rolling them together he encased them in his right hand, closed his eyes, muttered a soft benediction then breathed into his fist. Opening his fingers he was pleased to see that the pair had fused into a single perfect petal in the cup of his palm.

"This will not be broken by circumstances or time," he whispered, pressing the hand containing the petal against the bark of the tree. A soft glow surrounded him as the petal disappeared into the living wood. After giving the tree a final fond pat, Cu' turned, stepped into a shimmering shaft of sunlight and strode into another forest some distance to the west of where he had been.

No sleepy village sat beyond the reaches of this ancient wood. Instead an apparently quite prosperous town, skirting the neatly walled grounds and tiled roofs of an estate perched atop a low hill, basked next to a wide river in the warmth of the mid afternoon sun. Cart and foot traffic busied the road into town and a dozen small boats dotted the sparkling water, manned by late in the day fishermen and their nets. Close by the north side of the manor's enclosed grounds a carefully cultivated orchard of flowering sakura trees delicately encroached upon the tangled domain of their undomesticated cousins. It was toward that simple demarcation between the tamed and the wild that Cu' walked.

After finding a convenient low limbed tree whose boughs afforded a tranquilly pleasant view of the orchard, Cu' relaxed a small portion of the shield masking his aura, made himself comfortable in the shade and waited for the inevitable.

" What are you that you see fit to trespass upon the lands under my protection?" The voice was low, measured and held the undertone of an almost inaudible growl.

With a broad smile Cu' leaned back, put his hands behind his head and casually glanced in the general direction of the speaker. "It's been a long time since I saw you last..Not only are you growing forgetful, you're getting old and slow. I expected you here over an hour ago." Watching the approaching figure out of the corner of his eye with an air of good humor he added, "Aren't you a bit to the east of where you usually claim your lands to be?"

"I consider all of these lands to be under my protection," came the growl of a reply as the owner of the voice circled around the left side of the trunk to stand just below where Cu' lounged upon a thick branch. "If I am far to the east it's only because your blasted aura drew me here. Still hiding out among the leaves like some misbegotten forest spirit I see, GinCu'."

" I've always cultivated a special fondness for trees, like this exceptionally fine old magnolia," Cu' sat up, swung his legs to the side and made room for his visitor on the wide branch beside him. " Good thing you decided to come east, otherwise I would have had to go find you."

Easily leaping up to perch next to him, the newcomer regarded Cu' steadily with brilliant yellow eyes framed in shaggy white bangs. " You said we would meet again before I died, so I can't say that I'm entirely happy to see you right now...If you catch my meaning."

" Oh, I did say that ...didn't I," Cu' sighed then flashed a wink and a grin at his visitor. "Don't worry, your time isn't up yet. You're in no danger of dropping dead off this limb."

" Well thank you for putting my mind at ease, that's refreshing information," the other replied with a short bark of a laugh, " although when my end does come it's still likely to arrive at a damned inconvenient time."

"Always does," Cu' commented dryly, "but everything works out the way it should in spite of the inconveniences Child."

"GinCu', I haven't been a child in a very long time," this was said with a snort and a sly curl of the corners of the mouth," and I'm certainly glad no one is around to hear you call me that. It's just like you to shred my dignity into tatters."

" Well if you prefer me calling you the Great Dog General, Lord of the Western Lands, I'll spend entirely too much time wasting breath spouting out such a title.."

" I would prefer you get to the point you crazy hanyou. From you, Child is acceptable," the General graced Cu' with a broad smile, " Besides, with the both of us here, there probably isn't an eavesdropping lesser youkai within twenty Ri of this spot to hear what you call me."

"True enough. You do realize I'm not really a hanyou though..."

" You look like one," the General sniffed, " Smell like one too...Now, exactly why are you here?"

" Your utter lack of respect for me has always...."

" The point GinCu', get to the point."

" A great destructive force will arise within these lands in the future. The instrument of it's beginning already exists at this time. If not stopped the natural balance of the earth will crumble into darkness...."

" Where have you been getting your saki, GinCu'?"

" I'm completely sober and serious Child." Cu' looked his friend steadily in the eye, " I am not speaking as your old drinking buddy now, Inu...I am speaking to you..."

" ...as a seer.."

Cu' nodded.

" Like my father, I have always respected your visions GinCu'," the General stared out over the sakura orchard, a few random blossoms fluttered to the ground in the late afternoon breeze. " They will all fall in a few days, you know," he spoke quietly, a touch of sorrow coloring his deep voice, " It is sadly, an inevitable thing." The bright yellow eyes cut abruptly back to GinCu's face. "Where is this instrument? Show it to me..I'll get rid of it now."

"As much as I would like to ..." Cu' shook his head, " This task is not for you, Inu. It is for your son."

The General gave him an curious look. " My son is too immature for the type of tasks you tend to wish fulfilled, GinCu'. He is young and his head is only filled with dreams of power. I'm afraid that my neglect of him as a child put him too much under the influence of his mother. The boy has grown a cold and selfish heart, he's a great deal more like her now than he is me."

"His heart will prove to be undeniably more like yours with time." Cu's voice was quietly confident, " After all, being an InuYoukai the overriding desire to protect has been bred into the very foundation of his nature."

" You haven't seen my boy in quite some time, have you?" There was a frank look of open skepticism on the General's face at Cu's assessment. " He's turned into a right cold little prick who hides his thoughts and emotions so well it's nearly impossible to figure out exactly whats going on in that tightly shuttered mind of his." A sadly ironic chuckle escaped him. " Now the only thing I know for sure that he thinks about, with any consistency, is how to best challenge me and win. He truly believes that his only proof of personal worth will ultimately be in beating me."

" My condolences on what you believe to be the loss of your son's heart...However, it's your other boy I'm talking about.."

" GinCu', are you sure you found the right child? I have only one son and his very adoring mother has assured me that I'm lucky she allowed me him. The lady has made herself clear, countless times, that she desires to produce no future offspring with me. In fact, I haven't laid eyes on the bitch in over a century." Leaning forward the General narrowed his piercing yellow eyes as he whispered in Cu's listening ear, " You know that's the only one of your visions that has turned out to be false. You told me I would meet my soul's other half..."

" You will," Cu' looked nonplussed as he folded his arms into his sleeves, " Your other half just doesn't happen to be your current wife... But you just had to marry her..wouldn't listen to me."

" Sorry if I find it hard to believe, but I couldn't wait around forever for an heir."

" Perhaps you should work on patience in your next life. It hasn't been your strongest suit in this one." Cu' swiveled around to lean his back against the trunk of the tree. " You will meet her, Inu and she will give you another son."

" Feh..." With a slight grimace the General shook his head, " should have known I'd do something stupid...like marry the wrong bitch and sire an ice-hearted little miscreant...."

" Never consider your eldest son a mistake. His soul, like yours, is here for a very good reason. Without his aide your second son could have a much harder time in stopping the ripple."

"You're still going to insist on that second son of mine. You know, I haven't lived so long accepting every promise made to me at face value, even one made by a Kami."

"Ooo, From hanyou to Kami all in one afternoon," Cu' laughed merrily, "I'm truly flattered Inu."

" I realize you're no full youkai, GinCu' and having known you from the time I was a child, I can rightfully say you are no hanyou either because you remain just as you were when you first graced my father's hall. One would think you to be no older than my Sesshoumaru." The General chuckled dryly, "Not youkai, not hanyou...certainly not human...what does that leave you to be GinCu'?"

With a warm smile Cu' leaned over and clasped his friend's shoulder. "This humble Kami says you will meet her. Never doubt me Child. I am only telling you the truth."

"Well this doubting 'Child' will just have to insist on some kind of proof that this yet to be conceived second son is all that you are prophesying."

Cu' folded his arms across his chest as he rested back against the tree trunk. "You're really cheeky you know, demanding proof of a Kami."

" Damn right I am.."

" Proof you want?" Cu's smirk widened into a devilish grin. "When you see him, you'll have your proof. He'll be marked very well."

" Oh?"

Abruptly holding up his right hand, Cu' sat straight up, "I hear something..."

" I see you still prefer to dance away from a sticky subject," the General cocked his head to the side, a soft scowl pinching his black brows together over the bridge of his nose. "Sounds like a child..singing."

Landing lightly on the soft moss beneath the tree, Cu' began to leisurely stroll farther into the woods in the direction of the voice. With a snort, his companion leapt down and followed him.

A short distance away, sitting on her knees in a tiny clearing, a very young girl cuddling a doll to her chest was gazing around with wide dark eyes as she sang a simple lullaby to her rag bodied baby. The child was clean and beautifully dressed, with the neatness of both hair and clothing proclaiming her to be very well born and certainly not the daughter of some simple peasant. Only her feet were bare and somewhat dirty since she had apparently lost both of her sandals while wandering in the woods.

" It's a human child," the General stated flatly. He stood back in the shadows beneath the trees, next to GinCu', out of the line of sight of the little girl.

" Pretty little creature, isn't she," Cu' smiled, casting a sly glance towards his friend, "probably belongs with that group of women I saw walking in the orchard while waiting for you."

" Like I said...it's a human child.."

" They're probably out looking for her..." With a long fingered hand, Cu' caught the General's sleeve before he could turn and stalk off into the woods. "It would be a shame if such a lovely little flower became lost forever in this forest."

Taking a deep breath through his nose, the General pivoted around to eye up the silver haired man at his side. "What do you expect me to do about one lost human child?"

" You said you were the protector of all these lands, Inu. Small though she is, do your job...protect her."

" I have better things to do with my time..."

" Name one..."

" Hells.." the General started to stride into the clearing, but was pulled up short by Cu's hand on his arm.

" Not like that."

" What? Make up your damned mind GinCu'.. I don't have all day."

" You're a scowling, bushy haired youkai with wild yellow eyes, wearing armor and with enough cutlery hanging off you to carve up a small army," Cu' gave him a pointed look, " Protect her, don't frighten the poor little thing to death."

From far off, near the forest's edge closest to the orchard, frantic voices could be heard repeatedly calling out a single name. The distant sounds were lost on the little girl who continued to croon softly to her doll in a childish effort not to be scared.

" Just what do you suggest I do?" The Dog General's scowl deepened as he watched Cu' turn and begin to walk away. Several noticeable sniffs broke up the little girl's song causing the Inu Youkai to glance back in her direction "Hey, this really isn't funny...GinCu' !.."

A shaft of bright sunlight sliced obliquely through the leafy canopy of the forest to illuminate the retreating silver haired man. Just before Cu' stepped into it and disappeared, he flashed a broad smile back at his old friend. "I know you will handle this situation admirably, Inu...just think..soft."

Chapter Two

From a vantage point outside Earthward's linear time-stream Cu' had watched with amusement the inevitable progression of his friend Inu's humorous solution to the offhanded comment 'think soft' as it passed from a spur of the moment event, into a child's innocent fantasy game which, after a slowly passing decade, in turn morphed into a flourishing relationship of a much more adult nature. As the Guardian returned to his eternal meadow he wondered if the tenacious General even realized how neatly he had been set up to meet that particular girl in the first place. Cu' reflected that the answer was 'perhaps not', since it had taken so many years for the couple's affection to mature into their present liaison.

"I'm sure he'll have something snide to say about it if he ever figures it out," Cu' chuckled to himself as he made his way into the center of the field. "What a large and cheeky soul..What fun it will be sending him back out into the world in the future."

"However, now is the time to send out others," Cu' whispered thoughtfully as he withdrew the double red flower from the safety of the wide gray silk sash at his waist. Cupping them together in his hands he brought the conjoined blossoms toward his face.

" Forever together, now and always," his deep voice was strong and melodious as he breathed his benediction over the flowers gracing his open palms. " Now hear my voice and come to me my children. It is your time to shine."

Pulsating, like a pair of beating hearts, the flowers began to glow, their petals becoming once again radiantly white and ethereally translucent. As the glow around them increased, they lost the form of flowers entirely to become a pair of blinding white spheres of pure light, beating in synch on the palms of Cu's now outstretched hands. With a flourish the Guardian rolled the spheres off the tips of his fingers and watched while they hung for a moment in the air before lengthening to each take on a distinctly bipedal form.

A matched pair of elegantly slender figures composed entirely of light stood before Cu', intimately touching at shoulder and hip, hands clasped with fingers laced tightly together, both bodies blending, melding so closely into each other that at times they almost appeared to be a single form.

" Why have you called us?" Spoke the one on the left, "Why have you pulled us back so soon from Bliss?"

" You are both needed at this time," Cu' smiled at the pair, watching intently as they settled into their fundamental forms. "There is something momentous that calls out to be done.."

" We will gladly do your bidding, but..." the Right figure started.

" Must our lives once again be so sorrowful?" the Left said mournfully.

" One of us always must die..." lamented the Right.

" To leave the other to grieve all alone," stated the Left defensively.

" Never have we known a happy mortal life together since our creation," the pair sang in unison.

" For all that you have bade us do..." whispered the Right.

" Never, even once, have you given us that one small gift," finished the Left.

" I promise you, I will not allow that to happen this time," Cu' reassured them. "This time, once your task is finished I will see that you enjoy a long and happy life together before you return home."

" You've said that before," grumbled the Left only to receive a rather sharp nudge from the Right for such a blatant show of disrespect. " Well, he has..."

Cu' shook his head with undisguised amusement, gazed at the ground a moment then, clearing his throat, said, " I will make sure this time, that before you return to me, you will both live to be very old, very happy and find your end together."

" If you say so.." mumbled the Left gruffly, apparently still unconvinced.

" Will we become one after this?" asked the Right in a mellifluous voice, trying to ignore the note of dissension sounded by the Left. "Will this finally be our last life existing apart from each other?"

Watching the pair continue to shift and blend together, Cu' nodded. "Yes, Children, you are so close now the soul you share has nearly reintegrated. This reincarnation will be you last as separate beings." Extending a hand toward the Left, he gently pulled the souls apart, closing his eyes as the soft protests they made at the sudden loss of contact saddened his heart.

" Now it is time to begin your journey," he said quietly to what was once again a glowing sphere of light dancing above his left hand. Breathing softly upon it, Cu's voice rang out clearly across the meadow. " Go now, go quickly Child. Go and live once more." At the sound of his firmly spoken command a swirling gust of wind eddied around him setting the full sleeves of his silk robes into motion and lifting up the ends of his long silver colored hair. " Waste no more time. You are expected."

Answering the Guardian's command the Soulsphere flared brightly for only a second before suddenly shooting up into the dark blue sky to vanish from sight.

A wistful sigh from the remaining figure brought Cu's attention back to the one who had been left behind. The lovely being's illumination had noticeably dimmed with the departure of it's consort. " I had hoped we could venture into life together," it said in a voice muted almost into a whisper.

" Not this time Child," Cu's voice was soothing as he walked over to stand by the glowing figure, "but you will encounter each other soon enough and find an end together most joyously."

Glancing around at the flowers crowding through the grass at their feet, the Guardian winked at his still somewhat drooping companion. " Before you go I need you to gather up a handful of flowers for me, Child."

Cued by this request the white-petaled field once again sprang into a wild riot of color, each vibrant hue calculated to draw the inquisitive Soulchild's attention. Nodding obediently, the Soulchild began it's painstakingly slow search, walking slowly, while carefully looking over the brilliantly colored blossoms in order to choose exactly which ones seemed the most appropriate to pick. Giving an encouraging nod back the Guardian noted how seriously the Soulchild was taking such a seemingly innocent request and knew that it's eventual choices would be very good ones.

Cu's silent watch over the Soulchild was suddenly interrupted by the arrival of a golden ball of light which gracefully spiraled down from the sky to settle just above the flowers not far from where he stood. A short time later, a second one drifted down to hover next to the first. Arching a dark eyebrow, the Guardian growled softly under his breath as he realized just who had come back to him so prematurely. "That blasted ripple is already making trouble I see," he muttered as he strode over to greet the returning souls.

Like the souls of so many unfortunate lovers, those of the General and his long awaited mate were only focused on reuniting after being abruptly torn apart, their only immediate regrets being the unexpected loss of each other and the pain of leaving the fruit of their love alone and unprotected on the mortal plane. Cu' blessed them and sent them to find solace together in Bliss while he remained to ponder this unforeseen turn of events.

Chaos, Cu' reflected, was a disgustingly talented adversary when it came to finding sly ways to upset things while attempting to shake apart the foundations of Order. In light of the impending situation, that the General had actually died while defending his lover and their child was an event dangerously wavering on the edge of catastrophic. Cu' had planned for the old dog to live on for many more years, rewarded for a lifetime of service with the company of a loving mate and many more children. It was doubly irritating as well that the ill-fated Izayoi had wound up surviving her beloved by only a few short years before leaving their child, a being whose very existence was an integral part of Cu's plans, alone and defenseless in the mortal world.

Scratching the back of his neck with a long fingered hand, Cu' composed himself as he strolled back across the field towards the Soulchild. His face, once again calm, split with a wide smile when the solitary figure waved to him before once again stooping down to harvest another flower.

Finally, with the search over, it returned to the Guardian and presented him with a modest bouquet made up of equally modest components, for although each was distinctive, none of the soul's choices were especially bold or gaudy in coloration. Gracing a single stem, a deep indigo tinted flower grew protectively above one blushing a soft shade of dark pink. This pair had been surrounded with a trio consisting of two golden-yellow blooms and one in a light, happy shade of orange.

Cu' inspected the offering closely. " I believe one more should make this group complete. Choose another, Child, as carefully as you did these."

After a few moments, the Soulchild returned with one more flower. This one was a small, fragile pink bud framed in a bract of emerald green. "This one will do?" was the shy question.

" Oh, very well indeed," was Cu's reply as he tucked it into the rest of the spray now peeking above the upper edge of his silver silk sash.

" Guardian, why did you wish for me to gather flowers?" the Soulchild's head was canted to the side as it regarded Cu' with large luminous eyes.

" Should circumstances require it of them, these chosen souls will be a source of particular help in fulfilling your task, Child."

" But if we find we don't need them, what will happen to them?" The Soulchild's worry was well evident in it's soft voice. " They have been harvested from the garden.."

" They will still be reincarnated to live out their next cycle of life should you accomplish what is required without their aide." Cu's eyes sparkled as the tiny flecks of silver within them caught the light cast off by the Soulchild's incandescent glow. " Just know that in choosing them, you have given them a very special blessing, Child."

" Will we see you during our lives, Guardian?" the Soulchild asked pensively, it's radiant eyes clouding over with worry that the answer would be 'No'.

" Most likely, though if you do happen to recognize me your mortal consciousness will retain no memory of the encounter. Remember, I am setting you on an important task. It is your choices that will define the final outcome." Cu' held out a pale, elegant hand. "I can't give you the answers to make what you must do easier, but I will always be watching over you. Now, it is time to go into the stream. You too are expected."

Like it's mate, the waiting Soulchild shrank back into a bright opalescent sphere of white light which floated serenely into the palm of Cu's right hand. With a soft farewell, the Guardian breathed lightly on the Soulsphere and watched as it too shot up to disappear into the dark blue vault overhead.

Only a few moments had passed when the Guardian withdrew one of the golden-yellow flowers from his sash to call forth another soul to send into the living world. Just before this second sphere pulsing warmly in the center of his hand flew up into the life-stream Cu' breathed a quiet blessing over it ending in one simple command, "Follow."

" Now, shall we see just how much damage has been done ?" Cu' cast a glance down at the posey adorning his waist. "Although I have a suspicion none of you will be left out of this, it still isn't a bad idea to check things out...is it?" His silent audience gave no discernible response as Cu' lifted his right arm, the hand palm out as if pressed against an invisible wall in front of him.

One of the advantages Cu' enjoyed living outside of time was the ability to step into it at any given moment of his choosing. While he could have returned to a point where the deaths of the General and Izayoi were easily preventable, their souls had already returned to him and been lovingly passed into Bliss. Once a soul actually entered the Halls of Bliss it's mortal death was inviolate from any tampering no matter how tempted he might be to alter the previous outcome. Cu' had bound himself with that personal geiss long ago, feeling that even a deity should have at least some limitation when playing around with the souls entrusted to it's care.

The same geiss in no way prohibited him from interfering with a soul still in residence within it's mortal shell, in fact Cu' felt that as a proactive Guardian it was his duty to nudge and influence souls to make the correct choices in order for them to eventually attain the state of reintegration. He had lost a great many young souls to the last Chaos event, souls now confined inside the Halls of Despair, so he had no intention of letting anymore slip out of his control this time. Like any good Guardian he now stepped back into time in order to interfere.


	2. Chapter 2

**Gives a respectful bow to InuYasha's creator Rumiko Takahashi and assures her that no money will be made off her creations here, we are just visiting with them.**

**Hopefully someone out there will read more than just the first chapter of this story, and perhaps give a smidgeon of constructive advise to this humble player of words.**

**If not,well I shall still finish and post it anyway...if for nothing else but the sheer fun of it.**

**bows thank you WindMiko for commenting on the first chapter**

**I dedicate this one to you...**

Chapter Three

Hidden within the deeply shadowed recesses of an age-hollowed ancient oak, a pair of owlish golden-yellow eyes intently studied the strange figure seated before a small campfire with both interest and envy. The eyes owner had never seen anyone quite like the person who's choice of campsites effectively blocked the only available means of escape from what had unexpectedly become the yellow eyed spy's temporary prison. Superficially the stranger resembled some of the higher, human appearing youkai in that he was not only exceptionally tall and clean limbed, but also crowned with a shimmering cascade of dark silver colored hair which framed a pale, ethereally beautiful face. He gave off no type of aura that marked him as being youkai at all though, with even his scent betraying nothing more than the clean essences of a piney woodland on a spring morning after a gentle rain.

His manner of dress was decidedly odd as well. The silver haired man was clothed in a snow white under garment that gaped open at the throat to hang in sharp points of cloth on either side of his neck while it's full sleeves tapered to fit very snugly from mid forearm to wrist. This unusual top was tucked into a pair of light gray wide legged pants blousing over a pair of supple knee-high dark gray boots. Over this the man wore a sleeveless surcoat of soft gray leather which fit tightly at the waist before falling to the knees in a wide circular skirt. A fringed silver silk sash was tied neatly around the man's waist with a scarf of the same color covering the top of his head and tied loosely at the nape of his neck. Only the long sheathed sword tucked neatly through the sash by the man's left hip held any real familiarity for the little Spy.

Of far more interest, being the source of the Spy's current state of envy, were a half dozen fat trout each browning on it's own individual wood sliver spit that were stationed around the outer perimeter of the gray haired stranger's fire. Having enjoyed no real meal for the last several days had the Spy hoping to be able to at least snag the scraps of those glorious fish after the Cook had eaten his fill and turned in for the night. Just sitting so close and smelling them was a wicked twist of sublime torture and it took all of the Spy's concentration not to slip out of his bolt-hole and snag a fish on the run.

Snagging and running could result in some form of very unpleasant punishment if you got caught, he had at least learned that lesson after a past series of painful encounters, so showing himself to the gray haired man was out of the question. Begging for leftovers, no matter how pathetically inadequate they were, was also out of the question. Better to go hungry than get beaten bloody asking for a small handout. As a rule he had learned that humans reveled in beating someone who looked different bloody while begrudging him even the smallest portion of their foulest garbage to eat.

Still, this strange man didn't really appear to be a human, or at least not any type human the Spy was currently familiar with. Didn't look human, didn't feel youkai, didn't smell of anything more threatening than deep pine forests on a cool morning. These 'Didn't s' didn't change the fact that he was still sitting like a great gray stone on the one log blocking the only path of escape as he mindlessly whistled a merry tune and concentrated on cooking those delectable fish.

The pitiful growl of an empty stomach issued from the hollow tree. Cringing, the Spy sucked in his grieving belly and pushed farther back into the shadows, but the Cook only continued whistling, apparently still unaware of the hidden audience salivating behind him over the smell of trout and woodsmoke.

While the Cook radiated no discernible youkai aura, what suddenly began to make it's approach towards the campfire from deep in the woods certainly did. Feeling the oppressive threat of what was crashing noisily through a nearby thicket made the Spy try to pull even farther back into his dark niche in hopes of somehow being completely overlooked by what was coming. Figuring the stranger to be either deaf or completely stupid the Spy watched in morbid horror as, oblivious to the all racket, the Cook continued unconcernedly tending to his dinner.

After much snapping, crashing, popping and crackling of low hanging limbs and thick underbrush a rather stocky, disagreeable looking creature appeared from under the trees on the far side of the clearing across the fire. Rough, yellowish scaled skin encased the broad shouldered body from the neck down, it's inhuman modesty preserved only by a thick pelt of glossy black fur around it's hips that matched the spiky mane growing from the crown of an unattractively flat-skulled head. Glowering with bulbous red-rimmed eyes at the gray clad figure seated before the fire, it slowly licked a curving set of oversized tusks with a meaty black tongue and snarled in a deep guttural voice, " You have a half breed here. Give it to me...Now!"

The Cook glanced up at the intruder seemingly unperturbed by it's rude demand and replied quietly, " Mind taking yourself elsewhere? You smell as repulsive as you look and I am fixing to eat my dinner."

A hidden pair of round yellow eyes grew even wider at hearing the Cook's dismissive remark. The Intruder's eyes widened as well, then narrowed in anger at being so quickly put off by a skinny young man who was more interested in browning a few measly fish than he was about saving his own measly life. Taking a heavy step forward the Intruder repeated his demand in a much louder tone of voice.

"The Damned Halfbreed...Hand It Over....NOW!"

Arching a black brow the Cook fixed the Intruder with a level stare before rising gracefully to his feet. He evidenced no sign at all of being the least bit intimidated by the hulking creature standing across the campfire as he said in a soft voice, "Listen you great sniveling bastard...if I had such a creature I wouldn't hand it over to you. Now, vacate my sight or I will dispatch you back to the rotting hellhole you crawled out of."

Clearing the campfire in an effortless leap, the Cook strode over and squared off against the now livid Intruder. Tucked away in the shadows of his hiding place the golden-eyed Spy peered out at the impending fight. A slick sound of metal slithering from scabbard cut through the still night air as the Cook unsheathed his sword. Held loosely in his right hand the long blade was bathed in a soft white glow. Mesmerized momentarily by the sight of the Cook's curved sword as it pointed down towards the earth, the little Spy caressed the beauty of it with his eyes, following it's deadly gleaming length down...down...down to the sight of those delectable roasting fish that now called out to him from their unguarded place by the fire. On a night that suddenly seemed to have gone completely silent the unmistakable sound of a stomach gurgling emanated once again from within the hollow tree.

Regardless of the Cook's already drawn sword, the scaly Intruder was totally unafraid of someone it deemed to be so obviously not youkai. This skinny gray haired creature evidenced no aura, radiated no power and in spite of this it still refused to hand over what had been rightfully demanded of it. Taking another step forward the Intruder raised up a threatening talon clawed hand and bellowed, " I'll Take Both You And The Half Breed Then !"

Soundlessly leaping straight up into the air the Cook spun, using the momentum to bring his sword around in a brilliantly flashing arc of light which laid open the Intruder's torso in a strangely bloodless oblique slash from left shoulder to right hip. With a singularly loud 'POP' the creature abruptly disappeared leaving behind only a billowing cloud of chalky dust. A hard quick puff of breath from the Cook sent the cloud off to dissipate among the trees on the far side of the camp.

"No, you wont," he said quietly to the now vacant space before him as he re-sheathed his sword. "And you were most definitely very well warned."

Shaking his head in irritation at the overwhelming stupidity of some supposedly cognitive beings, the Cook walked back over to the log, sat down next to the fire with his back to the hollow oak and counted a total of five fish.

" Hmm... I suppose its time for me to say..." the Cook raised his voice only slightly to address the hole in the side of the tree, "You can come out now."

Silence.

" I don't suppose you are going to find one all that filling."

Silence.

" I have five more out here. You know, I really can't eat them all. Shame to waste them."

Silence...then a soft shuffling noise came from deep inside the hollow, followed by a sniff...then more silence.

" As you may have noticed, I didn't give you up to that youkai as a bedtime snack and since I think you're probably a little too scrawny for my tastes..." Snaking his arm into the hole the stranger pulled out a filthy little figure sporting a wide-eyed stare over a mouth stuffed with fish.

" Well runt, lets see what I've caught here," the Cook said with a wry chuckle as he plopped the Spy turned Fish Thief down on his right knee and sized him up with amused silver colored eyes.

Although the purloined trout had been reduced to little more than a partially gnawed head swaying atop a well picked over spine it was still clutched tightly by a pair of grubby hands sporting a formidable array of sharp pointed claws. Wary round yellow eyes, perched over a pair of food plumped cheeks, solemnly watched the Cook as the Fish Thief tried to surreptitiously manage what he had so quickly crammed into his mouth.

"Chew what you have..and try not to choke on it."

The unwavering stare didn't change, but it was more obvious that the little fellow's jaws were now working on the mouthful he had packed away in his cheeks.

" You know, you resemble a greedy squirrel at the moment."

A pair of black eyebrows pinched down across the bridge of the Fish Thief's short turned up nose in a childish scowl. An emphatic," Em numpha skwull," spilled out of his very full mouth along with a fish flake spray.

" Well that's certainly good to know," brushing off the front of his coat the Cook glanced down at the remaining trout still warming their scales next to the fire. " Chew that one up and you may have another."

Nodding slowly the Fish Thief banished his angry scowl and dutifully continued to chew, never taking his wide yellow eyes from the face of the man who still held him firmly by both a handful of hair and the back of his red jacket. Swallowing the last of his stolen fish the child raised his eyebrows questioningly. In silent answer the Cook leaned forward, retrieved another golden brown trout from it's berth by the fire, waved it around on it's stick to cool and presented the coveted prize to his tiny famished captive. Before he could admonish the child to take his time and chew, the second trout had been reduced to head and bones as quickly and efficiently as the first.

" I suppose you wouldn't mind having thirds?" A grin teased the corners of the Cook's mouth as the child nodded enthusiastically at the offer, his tangled head of light silvery hair dancing wildly around an eagerly smiling face.

Presenting the boy with another trout, the Cook sat back to further inspect the Fish Thief now sitting quite contentedly on his knee. Running long fingers through the child's thick mop of hair he gradually teased the knots and snarls into loosening, at last causing the somewhat matted mass to fall entirely free as though it had just been freshly combed. A pair of white furred, upright dog ears were revealed once the unruly mess was tamed and the sight of them, peeking through the silver hair atop the little boy's head caused the Cook to break into a truly mirthful grin.

"Well, I see there is more to you than just hair, big eyes and a mouth attached to a bottomless pit of a stomach."

The child nodded in agreement as he noisily chewed up the third fish, this time approaching it with somewhat more restraint than he had the first two.

"Why are you running about in the forest by yourself?" the Cook asked once he saw the child finally swallow the last mouthful of fish.

No answer.

"Going to start this again? Ok..."

It was then he noticed that instead of listening to him, the still hungry child was busy cutting his dark yellow eyes down toward the three remaining trout. The Cook tapped the end of the boy's snub nose to regain his attention. "Answer questions first, then more fish...fair?"

" Fair," the Fish Thief whispered.

"Now, my name is Cu'. How are you called?"

As the yellow eyes drifted down to stare at the picked over remains of the third fish in his lap an almost inaudible mumble found its way out of the boy's mouth in answer to Cu's question.

" What was that? Are you trying to strain my sense of hearing?" With a mock frown, Cu' pulled the silver scarf from his head to expose a pair of silver furred dog ears sitting proudly atop his own head. " Speak up this time Mumbles.."

The boy's large yellow eyes widened in shock. Swallowing, he started to reach up with a small clawed hand to touch the pointed ear closest to him, but jerked it quickly back into his lap instead.

Then he gave Cu' a beautifully innocent smile. " You have ears that look like mine," he exclaimed in wonder. " Are you a hanyou too?"

" No, I am not. I am the Guardian of Earthward." Cu' brushed the child's bangs out of his eyes as a small frown creased the little brow.

"I don't know where that is. Mama never told me about a place named.. arth war ?" The boy's face clouded over with disappointment. " I was hoping you were hanyou... if you were, then I wouldn't feel so alone."

" Well, if you wish to think of me as being hanyou, I will be happy to oblige you." Smiling warmly Cu' shifted the boy around so that he could look directly into his eyes. " Now, how are you called ?"

" InuYasha." It was a shyly spoken answer shadowed by an equally shy smile.

" That's a fine name. You father chose well."

" How do you know my father named me?" Black brows were beetling into another stormy frown.

" Because it sounds exactly like something he would choose." Cu' continued to smile benignly in spite of the darkly suspicious glare he was receiving.

" How do you know?" It was surprising how quickly such a sweetly innocent face could be twisted into a countenance marred by anger simply born from the fear of being tricked.

" I knew your father, from a time when he was no bigger than you are now. He used to call me GinCu'." The Guardian brushed the thick bangs back away from the child's forehead again. " There is no need to be afraid of me InuYasha. I have sought you out only to talk with you."

InuYasha chewed on his bottom lip, as he tried to decide whether or not the gray haired man was being truthful. " You look too young to have known my father..when he was little. Mama told me he was a Daiyoukai and a General. If he was old enough to be those things, how could you have known him when he was my age?"

" Because I'm a great deal older than what you are currently able to see, InuYasha."

Sighing, the boy's shoulders slumped as his momentary anger passed. " I never saw him..he died when I was born."

" I'm truly sorry, InuYasha. That should never have happened." Cu's large silver eyes gazed deeply into those of the little boy. Slowly the Guardian extended his left index finger until the tip rested gently on the center of InuYasha's forehead, then he very lightly traced a counterclockwise spiral. " Time to wake up for a while, Child," he whispered.

Sudden awareness flooded the young face as a far more adult visage seemed to superimpose itself directly over the childish features. " Guardian, it is good to see you again." InuYasha's voice sounded years older as well, hinting at the deep underlying timbre that had marked that of his father. Once again the jet black brows pulled together in a scowl, this one far more menacing than that of the temporarily suppressed child. " This is a hard life you have sent me into," there was no mistaking that the speaker was highly pissed.

"It wasn't foreseen that you would be left alone to deal with such a sorry situation. Unfortunately, both of your parents deaths were the result of an early wave off the Chaos ripple. When they returned to me the only detail they could both remember clearly was that your father died protecting both you and your mother."

A low growling sound rumbled up out of the child's throat as his eyes cut away from the Guardian's to stare at the tree he had been hiding in earlier. Once again Cu' tapped him sharply on the nose to focus his attention.

" InuYasha, what happened to your mother?"

" You stupid bastard, she died dammit !" InuYasha spat out. Shocked at himself, he took a deep breath, cheeks coloring in embarrassment at the vehemence behind his rude outburst. Knowing full well that the soul's responses while incarnate were always primarily influenced by intense corporal emotion, Cu' ignored it. The child sighed then slumped forward to rest his head in resignation against the Guardian's chest, his voice seemed noticeably subdued when he finally found the words to continue.

"She died. She was sick.. deep in her chest and began coughing a lot. Sometimes she would cough up blood. She tried to hide that part, but I could always tell. I could smell it, you..you just can't hide a smell like that. The healers all refused to tend her, because of me. They wouldn't even come near her be..because of me." Tear-bright yellow eyes turned upwards to gaze into the Guardian's face, " They said I was the reason she was being punished, tha..that ..it was all...all my f..f..fault."

With gentle fingers, Cu' wiped away the tears streaking down the boy's cheeks. " I know this is very difficult for you, InuYasha, especially right now as you are still only a child..."

" But Mama should have lived for a long time...Mama was young.."

" Yes, she should have. She should have lived for many more years...and your father should have as well." Hugging the boy to his chest, Cu' said quietly, " Somethings can't be foreseen or changed when dealing with the vagaries of a Chaos ripple, even by me and once a soul comes home there is no returning it to the life that has ended, no matter how attractive that option may seem."

There was a prolonged sniff as Cu' felt a small nose being rubbed rapidly back and forth across the front of his coat.

" I miss her," whispered the grieving child. Such an undertone of immense sadness evidenced itself in that simple statement that the Guardian himself let loose a tear. " She was the only one who loved me...Why?"

"Why what?" Cu' regarded the small figure which had suddenly reared back in his arms to once again flash an angry black-browed scowl his way.

" Why did you send me into the body of a hanyou? Why? Everyone hates me...everyone hated my mother because of me. Why? Why why..Why?"

Idly Cu' mused that if he had thought so small and beautiful a face couldn't look any angrier his thinking had been grossly in error. Glinting in yellow eyed fury, the scowl was back fourfold only this time a set of tiny claws were latched into the recently smeared leather coat covering his chest as well.

"It was necessary," the Guardian's voice remained calm, soothing, as he stroked the child's long hair.

"Remember, I told you the task this time was very important. What you are is exactly what you need to be..." Small claws eased their grip as dark brows relaxed, the furrow between them fading. Cu' smiled inwardly, it was good to see the soul was indeed listening to him. " A full youkai wouldn't do because Earthward is meant to be primarily a human realm. A human wouldn't be nearly strong enough to complete what needs to be done."

That pair of intense yellow eyes were caught up in a look of profound concentration as the still childlike mind presently driving the soul strove to really grasp what the Guardian was saying.

" The greatest heroes of legend in Earthward have always been partly divine, InuYasha....half human..half god and you Child, are no different. You have been born a hanyou to have both the strength you will need to fight and the heart to see the task through to the end."

As the soul regained it's equilibrium the scowl once again disappeared, leaving behind only the sad face of a very small boy. " I don't feel very heroic," he said bitterly, " All I feel is hungry most of the time and lonely all of the time."

"Being left on your own at your age..."Reaching down, Cu' retrieved another fish and handed it to the appreciative boy, "...is a stroke of misfortune indeed. Just how long ago did your mother die?"

"Just before my last birthday," was the slightly muffled reply as the boy tried to answer around a new mouthful of fish.

" I know she had time to teach you a few manners..." Cu' glanced down where another fine spray of flaked fish graced his already much maligned coat front.

Swallowing, the boy blushed. " Sorry... You're right, she did ..She was always very careful that I should have very good manners to prove to everyone that I wasn't just some wild animal." Reaching over he brushed the offending particles off of Cu's chest and right into his lap. "Uh...oops..."

"It's alright. Go on."

" It was very cold that night. Aunt Honoka wouldn't allow us to keep a fire in our room anymore. She said I was a froward boy who might toss something into it trying to burn the house down around the heads of decent people." InuYasha's nose wrinkled in disgust," She enjoys telling lies about me.. Anyway, I woke up during the night and heard Mama coughing. She always seemed to cough more at night when she lay down to asleep," The boy's small body seemed to uncontrollably droop in sadness as he related this particular memory. " I slept next to her as close as I could, to help keep her warm...but I wasn't big enough to do very much good... It was just too cold that night. She..she didn't wake up the next morning. I tried to make her wake up, but she had already grown as cold as our room. One of the servants heard me calling her. When they came in and saw that she wasn't waking up, they took her away from me."

" This happened in the home of your grandfather?"

" Grandfather died just after the last blossoms fell from the Ume tree last year. Mama cried for days. She begged Uncle to let us attend the funeral. But he wouldn't listen to her so we couldn't go. Mama said we had a duty to obey Uncle Yoshiro's wishes because he was the new Lord and the head of our house. Not long after that is when Mama first became sick and started coughing a lot."

" And your Uncle permitted you and your mother to remain under his roof?"

In answer only the silver haired head bobbed silently in affirmation.

"Why are you not still there?"

" He.. my Uncle.. he had the servants lock me up in one of the garden sheds with an ofuda on the door to seal me in. Then he sent for a priest to purify me. They left me in that shed all day without any anything to eat and no water..." Anger began to again cloud the boy's small face, making his yellow eyes gleam like hard shards of golden topaz. " That night, I overheard one of the guards outside the shed say 'it's a real shame the priest couldn't get here till tomorrow morning'. His friend laughed and, and said.." the boy's voice caught in his throat,"...and said.."

"What did he say?" Hugging InuYasha gently Cu' continued stroking the child's long silvery hair.

" He said that if I survived the priest's purification, Uncle had already told him to knock me in the head and toss me into the river in a sack full of stones." Looking up into Cu's silver eyes the child seemed to be weighed down by a feeling of complete defeat. " Even if I had been left a human..my Uncle didn't want me."

" How did you manage to sidestep your Uncle's plans for you?"

"The ofuda only protected the door, it didn't prevent me from digging a hole under the back wall of the shed and getting out that way."

" An excellent move, Child," Indicating that the trout only held in the hand was a wasted one, Cu' watched the boy continue to eat for a few minutes. As the fish's now naked backbone was being thoroughly searched for any minute scraps the Guardian cleared his throat to again re-attract InuYasha's attention. Once the round yellow eyes were affixed to his, Cu smiled wistfully. " It is a shame," he said, " that this is yet the home of so few truly enlightened souls. The simple truth is that for the most part, Earthward's souls are all very young. They are still consumed by the fears of superstition and find comfort in destroying what they are not yet mature enough to understand..."

"Yeah? Well because of their immaturity I might not survive long enough to carry out this great task of yours," Once again the adult mask filmed over the child's features as the soul within spoke up. Tossing the well picked fish backbone over his shoulder, the small figure glanced around to see how many more were left.

"You know..." he commented dryly while craning his neck around in the opposite direction , "....every human I meet wants to kill me. That goes for youkai too and most of them want to spit me up like these fish and snack on me afterward. It's getting to be a really shitty existence, Ya know?"

Giving him an encouraging look, Cu' passed the youngster another trout. While inwardly chuckling at the effect the brash hanyou personality was already having upon it's inhabiting soul the Guardian watched quietly as InuYasha laid into another fish. He had not expected the youkai-human mix to be quite so volatile but considered that under the circumstance a little volatility would serve the child well. 'Of course, ' he reflected, 'by the time he meets his Other, this one is going to be a real handful.'

" Obviously your human relatives wish to be of no help to you," Cu' said mildly. " What about your brother?"

" Him? He wants to kill me too," InuYasha glared over a mouthful of trout, " ...don't think he wants to eat me though...bet he'd really gag at that idea." Chewing thoughtfully a moment the boy contemplated the thought of getting any help from his proud older brother. The thought was promptly dismissed by a very contemptuous and unchildlike snort. " After Mama died, I hoped he would help me, but you know...Sesshoumaru can be one stuck up, self righteous..."

" Bastard?"

" Yeah, exactly. Last time I saw him," InuYasha chewed along the side of the fish,filling his cheeks up once again, " he popped me across the back with that nasty-ass whip of his...damn thing hurts like a mother..."

" Manners ? "

" Oh, yeah....Sorry," Several minutes of noisy chewing disturbed the otherwise tranquil sounds of the night. After finally wolfing down what amounted to half of a five pound trout, the boy resumed his previous train of thought. "....fucker.." Cu' winced as the boy continued on seemingly quite unabashed by his crudely burgeoning vocabulary. " He told me.." InuYasha's voice took on a curious whiney singsong quality, "....it is certainly unfortunate for you, little brother, that they did not decide to drown your sorry ass at birth."

" He sounds like that?"

" Well, yeah," a black eyebrow arched up in a 'you don't believe me look?'.

" He'll come around in time. Like many adolescents he is still sadly misinformed about the way the world really works. Sesshoumaru was really quite a pleasant child.."

" Well he sure the hell ain't now. Every time he sees me it's ...I'm going to kill you Halfbreed... your life is mine.. crap like that.... it's making me sick the shit he spouts off."

"He will change.."

"Hey , asshole...in the body of a small child here," InuYasha grimaced over a half chewed mouthful, spitting a bone neatly over Cu's right shoulder. "....and as slowly as it seems to be aging, I'm gonna be feasting on bugs and garbage for a long damn time. Whats gonna stop him from just squashing me like some fuckin worm...just for the hell of it? I ask you...what?"

" Just how old are you right now?"

" Turned ten last winter, but I look like I'm maybe five."

Raising his eyebrows, Cu' just looked at the boy.

" Feh...Whatever, I'm just a little small for my age...OK?" Dropping the hand still clutching the trout into his lap the boy shook his tousled silver-haired head sadly. " Hells, my Mama taught me how to read, write and paint pretty pictures. She even taught me how to pour fuckin tea... She was a Lady..she didn't know shit about fishing..or hunting rabbits..or living by yourself in the woods and running from youkai and wild animals and stuff. Until she died, I'd never been further from home than on a picnic by the river or a walk through orchard behind the great house." The penetrating look he gave Cu' was both heartbreaking in its sadness and demanding in its intensity. " How in the hell am I going to survive like this...tell me. I know what I need to do to survive, but this little body doesn't. The child I am hardly has even a clue. All this body knows how to do is run, hide and slowly starve. It's a miracle that I've made it this far."

" Hmm.. an understandable problem. When I return you to sleep that knowledge needed to insure your survival will remain within the consciousness of the child. You will not be left entirely defenseless as you are now. You will survive, Child and be that much stronger for what you must endure." With a smile, Cu' raised his left hand extending a slender index finger toward InuYasha's forehead but was stopped by the grip of a surprisingly strong little hand.

" Guardian, will I meet my Other soon? It wouldn't be so lonely if we were at least together."

" Not for a very long time, I am afraid. Your Other will not grace this life for well over a century," Cu' replied softly, aware of the waves of despair washing over the lonely soul before him.

" That is so long... How will I ever make it..."

" Just know that you shall," Cu's voice whispered as his finger made contact with the child's smooth forehead.

" How do you know?"

His slender index finger was already lightly tracing a clockwise spiral as he quietly said, " Because even now I am standing with you both, there at the end."

InuYasha's expression lapsed back into that of a very apprehensive child. Staring up with his wide expressive eyes at Cu' and wearing a look of confusion , no easily discernible trace remained of the adult personality which had manifested itself within the small body only moments before. The Guardian's eyes were lit by a warm light, his smile a gentle comfort to the tiny boy. " Now then," he said with a twinkle in his eye, " Would you like another fish?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Once again I would like to state that I make no profit from the Wonderful characters of InuYasha, created and owned by the admirable Rumiko Takahashi.**

**Cu' of course is still mine and he would like to thank WindMiko for keeping up with this and told me I should post this chapter before going to sleep**

**.....or he would do something to my flower....**

Chapter Four

As still as the aged and mossy tree trunks surrounding the clearing from where he watched a bloated orange-faced moon slowly rise above the leafy canopy, so stood the Lord of the Western Lands. He was straight, tall, a pale haired, pale robed figure which at first glance might have been mistaken for some fantastic statue long abandoned to the wilds. Seemingly oblivious to everything around him, he only very slightly turned an impassive face up toward that equally impassive Lady of the Sky. It of course would have been a fatal mistake for any creature happening upon the scene to think this elegant being as some sort of easy prey, an unsuspecting target distracted by the enchantment of the moonlight. In fact, the Moonwatcher was, as always, very much aware of everything going on around him. Under the current circumstances an intrusion would probably even be welcomed, since it would give him the pleasurable opportunity to kill something. Although it was still very early in the evening already only one annoying thought had the courage to keep dashing about like some overly stimulated kitsune in his mind.

' I, am bored '.

Nothing ran, waddled, slithered, crawled or slinked in his current location that was remotely worth the time or effort to annihilate. He hadn't sensed another strong youkai near him in hours except for one promising aura just after sundown that abruptly disappeared without a trace. No scent of blood, no scent of fear. It had been there one moment and gone the next, with the sudden loss of so promising a target bringing him up short in his tracks. Certainly there was nothing walking around in this forest, other than himself, capable of dispatching what he had been hunting earlier without spilling so much as a drop of blood.

' Irritating '.

'...and I am still bored '.

A distinctly menacing sound, that could only be described as knuckles slowly cracking, effectively silenced a chorus of nearby crickets as the dry rustle of leaves and low growing bracken signaled the sudden evacuation of several small creatures inspired to hurry off for a safer haven far from this particular clearing. The knuckle cracking was followed by an idle flick of the same hand, a burning sizzle as thick, acrid smelling liquid sprayed out toward the skittering retreat and a couple of high pitched squeaks slipping from the dieing throats of a pair of evacuees who didn't run quite fast enough. Slyly the corners of the perfect mouth set in that perfectly impassive face curled into what might have been uneasily called a smile at the audible proof of a hit. At best it was only a ghost of a smile though, quickly fading as the face once again settled into a pale, unreadable mask.

Since there appeared to be nothing here even remotely worth fighting at the moment, the very bored Lord entertained the idea of taking his hunt away from this singularly uninteresting woodland tract to seek someplace with a bit more promise and readily available prey, what those worthless humans usually referred to as 'greener pastures'. Mulling over which direction to take he continued to gaze fixedly at the moon, noting that it's earlier orange tint had already subtly faded into a dazzling silver white.

" I am still bored," he directed that statement directly into the shining face of his uncaring, high flying companion, then found it oddly strange to feel almost disappointed when it didn't answer. Truthfully very few creatures ever said anything to him at all, unless it was to make some ill advised threat against his life, followed by the obligatory screams and perhaps the occasional plea for mercy...if they lasted long enough to plead. As solitary as he now preferred to be, it wasn't unusual for him to completely forgo conversation for days, even weeks at a time, simply because no one lived long enough around him to hold a decent conversation with. Reflecting that perhaps even he might need the sound of an answering voice, rarely, since he was now trying to make idle conversation with, of all things, the moon he turned to a new and for him novel thought.

' Perhaps what I need is someone to take my mind off being bored '.

The idea of having a companion, no...a retainer flitted lazily around in the back of his mind. Yes, maybe a servant....someone to blindly follow him around, run tedious errands, fawn over his every idea, hang on his every word and loudly announce his presence to all so no one would be so foolish as to stand in his way....No, there would be fewer things to kill if they realized he was approaching, forget that part. If a totally impassive face could show disgust in that moment the Lord's certainly did, simply at the irritating notion of some subservient toady constantly tripping about underfoot. Of course, like that other overstimulated kitsune plaguing his brain tonight this idea too took on a life of it's own and refused to be summarily banished.

A servant...a servant..someone to verbally abuse, physically terrify, someone to step on, over or kick out of the way whenever he felt like doing so. Some one who would be happy to be told to 'Shut Up'. Someone he could threaten to his heart's content and punish without impunity. A ghost was resurrected as the sly smile curled up slowly on the corners of his perfect mouth once more.

Having finally decided which direction to head in, the Lord abruptly whirled to the left, took a single step forward and stopped as his nose detected a familiar scent wafting by on an errant night breeze.

Someone to threaten, terrify and punish with impunity. For that he didn't need a servant. A certain unfortunate halfbreed would provide him with the perfect distraction on this otherwise dull evening. Of course it was a shame the annoying bastard wasn't really of any size to put up a decent fight yet. Still, paying the little beggar a miserably painful visit would be more diverting than just standing around in the dark making idle comments to the moon.

" Little Brother," he whispered walking with unhurried steps and trusting an exquisitely keen nose to lead him straight to his target, " This Sesshoumaru has been remiss, we have not seen each other in a while."

" Another?" the Guardian graciously offered the child still sitting on his knee the fifth fish of the evening.

InuYasha nodded his head rapidly in acceptance, grasped the trout with small clawed fingers, then asked almost timidly, " But aren't you going to eat any of them?"

"No," Cu' smiled, " cooked them all for you."

Breaking into a wide grin, the child bit into the trout with no less relish than he had displayed on the four others before it. Remembering some of his manners he managed to get out a sincere "Thank you, GinCu' Sama," between bites.

"GinCu' will do fine. No need to give me any extra titles, Child," Cu' glanced around the clearing, noticing how disturbingly quiet the surrounding forest had become, as he waited for the inevitable.

Laying the fish across his lap a moment, InuYasha cleared his throat, hesitated then asked shyly, "GinCu', what was my father like?"

Senses extended to appraise the aura of their approaching guest, Cu' gave the child a warm smile as he replied, " He was intractable, but astute enough to compromise when it was called for, wonderfully clever and an exceptionally formidable opponent against any foolish enough to challenge him. For a warrior he was quite wise and he adored your mother." Cu' reached down and poked at the campfire with a stick to stir it up a bit. "He took his duties as a Protector very seriously. It cost him dearly in the end, but I know he felt the reward for his sacrifice to be more than equitable."

" Do you think," the little boy chewed his bottom lip a moment trying to fight back his natural shyness, " he would have liked me?"

" He would have loved you InuYasha."

" Even," the silver bangs flopped in front of his wide eyes as InuYasha hung his head before continuing his next question," Even though I'm a hanyou?"

"Well, he liked me well enough and I certainly wasn't anything as special to him as his own son." The sight of Cu's rakishly wiggling ears caused the boy to break into a happy chuckle.

"You're funny," InuYasha grinned as he snapped off another bite of fish.

" The last time I saw him was right before he met your mother." Cu' ruffled the hair between InuYasha's upright ears. " It was really quite charming, the way they met.."

" Really? What happened? How did they me..." Like some frightened animal made suddenly aware of the shadow sliding before a stalking predator the boy stiffened, ears swiveling to catch any hint of sound, nostrils flared to hone in on the direction of the scent he had just detected. " Youkai," fidgeting nervously, his child's voice sounded hoarse as his throat constricted with fright. " My brother is coming this way."

"I've been expecting him for quite a while." bending down the Guardian whispered reassuringly in the boy's white furred ear, " You need not be afraid of him this time. He cannot hurt you with me here."

" But what if he hurts you, GinCu'? He can be really mean."

" I don't think it will actually be any problem. Your brother may be misguided but he is not stupid." Cu' smiled as InuYasha scooted even closer into the shelter of the Guardian's right arm. It was sadly revealing just how close to the border of starvation this child actually was in that, even though the little fellow was frightened almost to the point of panic by the presence of his older brother, he still resolutely clutched the remains of that half eaten trout against his thin chest in a proverbial death-grip.

Cutting his eyes over in the direction InuYasha kept staring at, Cu' watched as a tall,elegant figure stepped with deliberate slowness from out of the shadows and into the circle of light cast by the campfire. As pale and ethereal as a living shaft of silver moonlight the figure advanced only a few paces, lifted his pointed chin and stared down at Cu' disdainfully through narrowed golden eyes.

" This Sesshoumaru sees that filthy hanyous seem to have a way of attracting one another."

Slowly lifting his head Cu' regarded the young Lord of the West with a look of undisguised amusement," You were never cruel as a child, Sesshoumaru. Exactly when did you first decide terrorizing infants to be an enjoyable pastime ?" A lesser being's face would probably have been tempted to melt into a smoking puddle on the ground by the venomous glare shot back at him across the clearing for that remark. As it was, not only did the boy next to him try to plaster his trembling body further into Cu's right side, a sudden noticeable fall of leaves showered down over the camp, causing the fire to flare up with the added tinder.

Sesshoumaru's searing yellow eyes betrayed all of the turbulent emotions his beautifully composed face did not. " You are GinCu', that miserable hanyou who first cast my father into the path of his human whore. This Sesshoumaru finds it perplexing that the blight of your existence has not come to a deserving end by now."

"What ever happened to, ' Uncle GinCu', what present did you bring me?'" Giving InuYasha's shoulders a reassuring squeeze he then added, sotto voce, "Your brother was a great deal more amiable at your age." Of course such an obvious whisper did absolutely nothing to placate the seething temper of the Inu Youkai who had already taken another step closer to the fire.

" That abomination born out of my sire's dotage merits no display of fraternal affection from this Sesshoumaru. He is no brother of mine. Perhaps the wisest course would be to rid the world of both of you now to spare it further contamination."

" He..he's gggetting really..m..mad," stuttered a very small voice from behind the overhang of Cu's wide sleeve. "Watch out..for his whip, he won't give you any warning...it comes right out of his hand." Although the deceptively serene Inu Youkai still appeared relaxed and not yet poised for combat, the Guardian nodded in quiet acknowledgment of the youngster's warning.

In one fluid move the Guardian swung the boy off his lap as he rose to his feet and placed himself between the brothers. " What have you been doing to this child to make him fear you so?"

The surprising quickness of Cu's action's made the young Lord pause to reassess his gray haired opponent. Unwilling to smile at the revelation that perhaps he had actually stumbled upon a more worthy opponent than originally thought, Sesshoumaru's gaze cooled as he closely inspected the adult hanyou for exploitable weaknesses while formulating how best to initialize an attack. "The fact that the brat fears me may be the only intelligent response he finds himself capable of," his tone was disarmingly flat and dispassionate.

"Jealousy is a very ugly emotion and one certainly belittling to the eldest son of my esteemed old friend." Cu's hands were folded in front of him as he stood squarely facing the Inu Youkai. A pair of sharp clawed hands firmly clutched his right pants leg as InuYasha peeped from behind him, the trout now abandoned on the ground between small dusty feet. "It is a shame upon you Sesshoumaru to vent your anger on this boy. I would suggest you curb such future impulses lest you learn what true anger is."

"It is unwise to threaten a full youkai, hanyou." All trace of turbulence had disappeared from Sesshoumaru's yellow eyes, leaving them eerily flat and cold as he readied to strike. Cu' reflected how much he was reminded of one of the great hooded snakes of the mainland as the Youkai prepared to attack his prey.

"Were I what you believe me to be, I would likely be more afraid of you than your young brother for he is yet a child and doesn't realize what a monster you are striving to become." Cu' breathed slowly in, a deep cleansing breath. He displayed no modicum of respect to the young Daiyoukai Lord, evidencing not even the slightest hint of fear as he continued to regard him with a steady gaze.

"Half brother," the Youkai snapped. The fact that this impertinent hanyou continued to insist on staring him straight in the eye offended him to his core.

"Were I a hanyou, you would no doubt..." the sound of cracking knuckles drifted across the campsite "...defeat me quite easily.."

"First you..." his right hand, fingertips glowing a shimmering light green with newly released poison drew back to hang poised in the air at shoulder level, ".....then I rid myself of father's unforgivable mistake...."

"...but I am not a hanyou," the Guardian released his restrained aura and the world abruptly slowed down for the angry young Lord of the West.

The clearing around the campsite was flooded in a soft white light which entirely leached all color from everything except the three figures standing by the fire. Sesshoumaru's eyes widened as he staggered almost imperceptibly under the sudden force assaulting him. Enclosed by a warmth that made even the ends of his long hair seem to tingle, the Daiyoukai's mind flashed with the known potential of a million possible futures and a million possible pasts. It was as if for one instant he held on to true omnipotence, all seeing, all hearing, all knowing and then it was gone. Only the gray clad figure of Cu' with his shinning silver eyes, sheltering a frightened InuYasha, stood before him. Open mouthed, Sesshoumaru stared back at him, unable to summon the will to move, his right hand hanging limply at his side with no trace of poison gilding his claws.

" I harbor no designs to harm you, Child," Cu' stated quietly, "My only goal is to set your feet back on the path you have strayed from. It will take time, but you will prove true. I put you into this life to slay monsters, not to become one."

Transfixed Sesshoumaru watched the gray haired man hoist InuYasha into his arms, cradling the boy's head on his left shoulder. Stepping right through the fire, Cu' walked slowly over to stand before the young Lord, his silver eyes seeming to glimmer like hard sunlight on still water. He spoke, but though no sound left his mouth the Daiyoukai could hear him quite clearly, "You will not kill your brother, Sesshoumaru. It would be to your future misfortune and sorrow to destroy a being having so much value to your heart. He is here for a reason as are you."

Pupils dilated to the point that the irises seemed little more than bright golden rings encircling a pair of black voids Sesshoumaru stood, entranced by the glittering eyes and the silently moving lips of the man before him. Vaguely he was aware of the covert gaze of his bashful sibling as he peeked out from the safety of GinCu's arms. A melodically hypnotic song sung by soft voices continued within his head, every syllable sinking into some long abandoned corner of his soul. " Protector InuYoukai, watch over him until he can stand on his own, test him as he grows older to strengthen him. Learn to cherish what you presently disdain so that the promise of blood may be fulfilled that you may surpass your father."

Bending forward, Cu' pressed his lips against Sesshoumaru's forehead, right in the center of the crescent moon above his eyes. "Is my meaning now clear in your heart my Sesshoumaru?"

Eyes still dilated, the young Lord nodded his head only once. "Yes," he replied simply," I now understand."

" You may be on your way, Child," Cu' said with a warm smile before turning, stepping back across the fire and resuming his seat on the log. No trace of the white light remained, with the immediate area now reduced to only a study in chiaroscuro lighting by the glow of the tiny campfire. By the time Cu' made himself comfortable, the graceful figure of the young Daiyoukai had already disappeared back into some deeply shadowed recess beneath the trees.

Feeling a shift of the weight in his arms, Cu' turned to find himself caught by a bright yellow, round eyed stare.

"You kissed Sesshoumaru...." InuYasha's voice held all the disbelief so evident on his awestruck face.

" It was entirely filial, InuYasha..."

"Yeah, but you Kissed....Sesshoumaru..." wrinkling up his nose the boy made a sour face, "YUCK!"

"Do you want this last fish?"

The sour look faded immediately. " Uh..Yeah.. please..."

Snagging the last trout, Cu' gave it a couple of quick cooling waves and stuck the side of the fish into the boy's gaping mouth. Hopping down to sit on the log next to his hero, InuYasha munched away happily feeling an unaccustomed sense of relief at the fact that, although he had actually been in close proximity to his very contentious older brother, the skin on his back and his butt was still comfortably intact.

" Feeling better now that he's gone?"

" Uh huh," Light silver hair danced in the firelight as the boy bobbed his head vigorously. " He scares me. Always does things that hurt..like snapping.." This time, Cu' was thankful to see the fish flake spray projected out over the fire. Who, he wondered had taught this child how to stuff his mouth and talk so clearly at the same time without choking. The chewing, talking and spraying continued. "....my ass with that damned whip of his."

Blinking Cu' glanced down at the boy, thinking he may only have imagined hearing a whisper of the adult soul peeping out again.

" That asshole must sit around nights just thinkin' up shit to do to me."

No, definitely not his imagination. "InuYasha, would your dear mother wish to listen to ..." Cu' arched an eyebrow meaningfully.

Round cheeks flushing red, the silver head hunched down between a pair of skinny shoulders, the white tips of the boy's ears folding down as well, " No...I'm sorry. Mama wouldn't like me talking like that. But that bast..."

"InuYasha..."

" Oops," Abashed the boy finished up the rest of his fish in silence. Doing a quick scan of the ground, he spied the half eaten one dropped earlier, triumphantly retrieved, dusted off and ate it as well. Once every fish spine had been scoured as perfectly clean as possible, the boy gathered up the bones, dug a neat hole between the roots of the oak tree and buried them. Dusting off his tiny hands, he then walked back over to plop down in the dirt at Cu's feet.

"Those fish were very good," he said, wistfully eying the ring of the campfire just in case another had been accidentally overlooked.

"Still hungry?"

Sighing, InuYasha nodded." Yeah, I'm always hungry. It's way hard trying to find things to eat sometimes."

"Well, I guess you should take care of this for me then," Cu' pulled a large rice ball wrapped in a dark green leaf from a deep pocket in the skirt of his coat. Another pocket yielded up a small skin of what proved to be water sweetened with honey.

The boy's eyes lit up as he thanked Cu' for these special treats before settling back to make short work of them. "Where did these come from, GinCu' ?" he asked once he had drained the skin and ferreted out every single grain of rice. " I don't remember your coat having pockets before."

" I'm a magician," Cu' told him with a broad wink.

" Have to be," InuYasha snickered, ducking his head out of Cu's immediate reach, " to get Sesshoumaru to hold still long enough to kiss him..." The Guardian's arms proved to be long indeed, since he didn't duck quite fast or far enough and received a good natured thump on the head anyway.

" Runt, would you let that rest? In peace?"

The youngster rolled over on his side, giggling merrily and holding the top of his head.

They both sat watching the fire as the white faced moon sailed serenely up to her apex for the night. As the night turned chillier, Cu' added some more wood to the fire to coax it back to life. InuYasha crawled up on the log to snuggle back up to the Guardian's side.

" GinCu'," the shy child's voice was back again. " Can I stay with you?"

" No, I'm sorry, but that isn't possible, InuYasha."

" If I promise not to be any trouble?"

"I know you would be no trouble, but where I must go at this time, you cannot."

" Oh..." there was a deep sigh followed shortly by an even deeper yawn.

Reaching over, Cu' picked up the child sat him in his lap and encircled him within the protection of his arms. Little fingers ,careful of their sharp tips, stroked the soft material of Cu's wide sleeved shirt gently.

"It, feels like my Mama's favorite silk kimono..." another yawn. " I miss...Mama.."

After kissing InuYasha's forehead lightly, the Guardian rested his cheek on top of the silver haired head, staring into the fire with eyes reflecting moonlight as he kept watch over the boy for the rest of the night.

Several hours and many miles later, a young Daiyoukai Lord realized with a start that he was doing nothing more productive than loitering next to a very small and noisy brook while staring raptly, like some love struck nitwit, up at the moon. Blinking, he tried to remember exactly when he had stopped walking, then wondered where in the Seven Hells that the damned brook had come from, since according to his last conscious memory he had been nowhere near any water at all.

He remembered tracking the scent of his half brother through the woods, but whatever elusive spoor of the hanyou he had followed earlier was now long lost to him. Looking around he found that besides the rock littered brook, none of his present surroundings even held any familiarity for him at all. The young Lord of the Western Lands actually snarled to himself in irritation at the fact that there was a good portion of the night he could offer no accounting of. Here in this strange grove, next to a bubbling woodland freshet, the Lord's face actually darkened into a vicious scowl, if only for a moment, as he determined that yes, the moon that had risen regally to greet him earlier, was now sliding below the ridge of the western mountains framed so picturesquely between the trees. Somehow he had missed her entire journey.

Again he cast around for InuYasha's scent.

' He was near...'

Still unable to find even a trace, he glanced once again around the clearing, glared at the stream, at the fast disappearing moon and sniffed with distaste at the fact the sky was already coloring to pink in the east. He would have to torment InuYasha some other time. The stupid hanyou was innocent, slow and generally proved quite easy to catch once he discovered the boy's track. Yes, maybe he'd run across him later in the day, make it a difficult proposition for the little idiot to sit down comfortably for the rest of the week.

The ghost smile played around his lips as the Lord idly stoked the rich pelt draped over his right shoulder. Then he began his unhurried walk, his pale and perfect face composed into it's unreadable mask,framed in moonlight colored hair.

' Irritating.'

'I'm still bored. '


	4. Chapter 4

**Most humbly I once again must say that while I enjoy visiting with InuYasha , he and all of his friends..and enemies belong to Rumiko Takahashi. She may reap all the well deserved profits of her wonderful imagination.**

**I seek nothing, I'm only here for a chance to play.**

**And once again, thank you WindMiko for your words of encouragement.**

**Any other reviews would be most helpful too.**

Chapter Five

This particular morning he awoke with an unmistakable craving for fish. Ensconced quite comfortably among the high branches of a massive oak, well hidden from any unfriendly eyes happening to wander by, way down there on the ground below, the red clad figure lazily stretched, yawned wide enough to make a normal person's jaws ache, sat up, then swung his left leg over to dangle off the limb serving duty as his makeshift bed. Sniffing the morning breeze, he glanced eastward, noting that it was only just a few minutes after sunrise, rotated his shoulders, worked an annoying little kink out of the back of his neck and decided...Yep, it definitely needs to be fish this morning.

He supposed his craving was really the result of once again having That Dream. Since many of them weren't very pleasant, he only slept deeply when his body absolutely demanded to in order to avoid the mental chimeras that enjoyed messing up his head and leaving him a sweating wreck. Unlike the nightmares he feared, though he would be the last to admit some stupid sleep induced fantasy could ever hold any power to scare him, the dream he had awakened from was certainly one of the good ones. It was an old dream that had followed him out of his childhood and one which he wished would visit him on a far more regular basis than it did.

It involved a tall man, who gave him plenty of fish and rice to eat, spoke to him kindly and made him feel safe. In it he was always a very small boy, afraid of everything. This man didn't look down on him for being a hanyou, didn't try to hurt him, offered him words of encouragement and a promise that things would someday turn out all right. He always felt an overwhelming sense of peace sitting in the man's lap as they talked and it seemed to him the dream was probably about his father or at least how he wished his father could have been.

The exact contents of this ' Papa Dream ' varied. Most of the time, they just sat comfortably by a campfire and the man talked quietly to him while letting him gorge on the biggest trout and rice dinner in the world. Sometimes the man would heroically protect him from a monstrous Oni by leaping high into the air, brandishing a sword of light to strike down the wicked, ravenous beast wanting to make a meal of the poor defenseless little hanyou. That was certainly something a father would do... right? Save your ass from an Oni. Afterward they would both sit down while the boy stuffed his face with fish..and rice.

Better yet was the really great variation where Dream Papa protected him from his evil tempered older brother. Standing like a mighty shield between them, his reprimanding of Sesshoumaru to the point where that supercilious bastard was reduced to standing there dead silent, eyes bugged out and mouth agape in total humiliation was one enjoyable dream. Just before telling him to "run along" the Dream Papa always added one further insult by giving the mighty Sesshoumaru Sama a peck on the forehead like he was some silly little girl. Of course this variation also ended with the obligatory ..fish and rice.

No matter what course the comforting 'Papa Dream' took, it always ended with a meal of the biggest, fattest, most golden brown trout imaginable...and rice. He'd had the really good version last night, the meal smelling and tasting so real that the memory lingered in his nose and on his tongue even after waking and ...Damn, he had to have some fish this morning.... the fact that his big bad brother had been reduced to a little girl once again only sweetened his mood. It was great to wake up on the right side of the branch for a change.

Well, since it was highly unlikely any self respecting trout was going to be thoughtful enough to fly up out of the river and into the top of his tree, there was nothing to be done but go coax the slippery little bastards out of bed by using some quick handed snatch and grab. Leaping up to the next higher limb with a well practiced expertise that would put even the nimblest monkey to shame, he took another tentative sniff, smelled water then bounded up to the topmost branches for a visual to provide him with the safest approach down to the river. Body bobbing and swaying among the branches stirring in a light wind, he scanned his target.

'Yep, there's a village scattered along that bend in the river alright... so that's where that damned human-stink fouling up the morning air is coming from... Hn, fields look well tended though, rice paddies, temple up on the hill...Temple..Yep, we need to avoid that place like the plague.'

Villages could be dangerous enough for a hanyou stupid enough to venture into one. He'd learned, the hard way....more than once. Villages with a Miko or Priest in residence could be downright deadly. He didn't entertain any desire to test his luck and wind up learning the kind of lessons they would be more than happy to teach him.

'Nope, not going there, no way, no how....ever.'

After meandering past the village with its paddies and neatly planted fields, the river once again brushed along a stretch of shady tree-lined banks perfect for exactly what he had in mind. Bounding across the treetops he headed toward a spot on the river well out of sight of that smelly village.

He could travel fast enough over the open ground to put a fleet horse to shame, but leaping about from treetop to treetop was his preferred way to travel. The forests were his domain, he was the master of their green leafy canopies, perfectly at home in the safety of their branches, gracefully at ease dancing across even their highest crowns. Had the whole world been a sea to sea forest it would have suited him just fine.

Funny, he never could quite remember exactly when he had decided to take to the trees. He had just woke up one morning, surprisingly draped along a wide limb of all places, with the revelation that life would be far more protected for him up there than on the ground. Being still very young he didn't know what inspired this startling gestalt, or even exactly how he had come to be sleeping so far above the ground in the first place, but he had primarily lived between heaven and earth in his aerial haven ever since.

Reaching a spot where the trees edged down close to the water, InuYasha leapt lightly to the ground, and secured his wide red sleeves by hoisting them up to his shoulders then tucking their loose ends through the back of the sash around his waist. Satisfied that they were well out of his way he waded into the river to catch breakfast. Patience and excellent timing paid off and he soon waded back out with a large brown trout wiggling in hand. After dispatching Breakfast with a smart smack of it's head against a broad flat rock, he sat back and devoured it sitting on the same flat rock, cooling his toes in the water while he ate. All that was left when he finished was a neatly picked head and backbone tossed among the scattering of scales he had amused himself with by seeing how far he could spit them. Since one fish was never enough he stood up preparing to wade back in, then whirled around, reflexively crouching down as his sharp ears picked up the sounds of voices coming his way.

He was off the rock and hidden within the safety of the trees long before the two roughly dressed men, whose loud ongoing conversation had been what alerted him to their approach, came strolling along the bank to stop at the very spot InuYasha had already chosen as his breakfast table. From a leaf enshrouded perch, he silently watched them, fuming at the fact that the noisy pair, nets in hand had decided to usurp HIS fishing hole.

' Damn, I was here first ya stinkin' bastards..'

Starting to spring away in utter disgust at the unexpected downturn in his luck this morning, InuYasha paused, body coiled low for the leap, just as he was struck by what he felt to be, a rather inspired plan. He'd just let this pair of idiots catch a nice big mess of fish, then he'd play big hairy scarey Youkai, run them off and have a really satisfying breakfast. The more he tossed this idea about, the more attractive it became, so he quietly stretched out, made himself comfortable and waited for the annoying interlopers to do all the work. If he was really lucky maybe they even had a couple of rice balls he could scare them out of as well.

Apparently unperturbed by the litter of scattered fish-bones and semi-chewed scales, most likely because they appeared to be the end result of a successful hunt by one of the village cats, the duo continued to chatter while they rolled out their nets and went about their fishing. Their nonstop discussion, which seemed to consist largely of some mean spirited gossip about several of their more well to do neighbors immediately began to put InuYasha's teeth on edge.

'Don't these bastards ever shut up? They're gonna scare all my fish away with their yappin..'

After trying to ignore them for a while he began thinking that maybe it would be a better idea just to get it over with, scare the shit out of them and reclaim his spot before every finned denizen in this part of the river swam away to preserve their sanity. As he prepared to leap down out of the tree a sudden turn in the topic of conversation made him settle back down to do some serious eavesdropping.

One of them had mention the Shikon No Tama.

That was exactly what he was hunting for.

"I'm telling you Hiro, it's an honor...An Honor that our Lady Kikyou was selected for this great service. Only she is strong enough to purify the Shikon Jewel," straightening up, the tall speaker wiped his brow on a sweaty forearm before lacing another fish onto the line holding his share of the catch.

" Honor, shmonor..It's a bad idea all the way around," his short, potbellied friend countered as he pulled a flopping trout loose from a poorly maintained net. " Only nasty hellish things 'll come of it. You mark what I say."

"Like what? Name something." Pulling his net the rest of the way in, the tall man tossed four more good sized fish onto the bank.

" Like...like demons. That thing's gonna draw them like flies to a honey pot. Why do you think those damned demon hunters brought that thing here in the first place?" Hiro glanced over a little enviously at his lanky comrade's decidedly more impressive catch.

His hard working friend merely grunted, shrugged and strung another fish on the line.

" Well, I'll tell ya why. Cause they were tired of having all the damned demons come and hang around their village...that's why."

" That's stupid...would you listen to yourself ? They're a village of Demon Hunters, it's what they Do. Makes life damn easy if your line of work delivers itself right to your door, I say."

Hiro indignantly folded his arms across his prominent middle, entirely unconvinced that he wasn't right in his assumption that their little village was headed for trouble on a terrifying scale. " Mark me, mark me. Just wait and see. Gonna be demons crawling all over the place after that damned jewel."

"And if there is, our Lady Kikyou will protect us." The tall man laced the last fish on his line then started rolling up his net. " Besides once Lady Kikyou purifies it, that jewel wont be a problem for anybody, least of all our village."

"I still ain't convinced. How long is it gonna take for her to do it Ebi? Days? A month? A year? Ever? A lot can happen to us before she does." Doing a quick silent count it was, as always, irritating for Hiro to see that once again the tall man had twice as many fish to take back as he did.

" Nothings gonna happen," Ebi snorted as he started to sling his catch over his shoulder, " I swear, you see a demon behind every damned bush..in every tree..."

"Uh..E..E..E buhbuhbuh..bi?" Hiro was just standing there, staring straight ahead, his meager catch lying in a heap next to his tangled net. " Wha..Wha..Whats..thu..thu..thu..that?"

Ebi glanced around, face growing pale at the sight that had already transfixed his friend. The catch hanging over his shoulder slithered out of suddenly nerveless fingers to land with a loud 'Schallomp' at his feet. " Itsa..itsa itsa..."

"DEMON!" Catches and nets totally forgotten, the pair of gossiping fisherman simultaneously voided their bladders, threw their hands over their heads and took off towards the village like every devil in all of the Seven Hells had just popped into sight to fly nipping at their heels.

Clothed in a voluminous outfit the color of bright red blood, thick silver hair fluffed out to twice it's normal volume, fangs widely bared beneath a black-browed scowl and claw-tipped hands poised menacingly before him, InuYasha held his pose until both of the screaming idiots had passed out of sight. Then he collapsed in a fit of laughter against the side of the tree he had jumped out of. After a few moments, he shook his hair back into place, tossed both nets as far down the river as he could send them, slung both lines of fish over his right shoulder and with a still delighted snicker returned to the trees.

He felt not even the least amount of guilt for tossing away their nets, or stealing every last fish from those two stupid humans. After all the only thing that humans had ever consistently done was to steal away those things that to him held value. His mother, his home, his dignity...bastards had stolen it all, so what were two nets and a few measly fish compared to the shit he'd had to put up with for almost a century and a half.

Finding a high airy perch InuYasha proceeded to make a leisurely meal of what Hiro and Ebi had so generously provided. No, he never minded switching around the tables and stealing things from humans at all. They really did deserved it after all. Besides, sometimes he just happened to need what they had to survive. Oh, yeah... He planned on surviving for a very long time, just to spite each and every one of those heartless fuckers.

Soon, he thought with great satisfaction, he'd been stealing the best thing in the whole world from them. Something that would insure that no one...not human, not Youkai...would ever steal anything he valued away from him again. A broad smile graced his boyish face as he lay back and watched the golden sunlight filter through the leaves above his head. That Shikon Jewel was gonna solve all his problems and all he had to do was take it away from some stupid human girl.


	5. Chapter 5

**Back again to add a bit more to this ongoing tale. Inuyasha and Company are still the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I make no money from this story. It is purely for fun.**

Chapter Six

It was impossible, he had concluded long ago, to decide which cosmic dance he really preferred, the serenely beautiful decent of those returning souls whose arrival was gracefully displayed in long twisting spirals of softly glowing light or the gloriously blinding leaps of those once again eager to reenter into the challenging plane of mortal life. All of his lovely children were always so ready for the next adventure, coming and going in eternal play around and above the meadows under the care of the Guardian Cu'.

Half hidden among the long blades of silver tipped grass blanketing his favorite hillside, Cu' lay happily watching them as they danced. From this comfortable spot overlooking that sheltering field of flowers which harbored the oldest souls in his keeping, he cheerfully greeted those coming back for a season in Bliss and joyfully bid good journey to all once again setting off along the path to new lessons.

The unfamiliar sound of mournful weeping drifted across the Meadows of Serenity as one of the newly arriving Soulspheres drifted down right into the middle of Cu's garden. Closing his eyes the Guardian quickly reached to his side and withdrew a golden-yellow flower from the spray tucked into his sash. Breathing upon it, he called out the soul and blessed it with it's specific task. Instead of allowing it to shoot straight up into the air, he slung it forcefully up, out and toward the horizon. Then he casually walked down the hillside to greet the one who had just returned.

Like so many returning older souls this one's outward appearance continued to manifest the physical aspect of it's recent earthly incarnation. In anguish, a sloe-eyed maiden dressed in the white haori and red hakama of a Miko, long glossy black hair caught back on her nape by a length of white ribbon binding, stood with head bowed, her tears a bitter rain upon the white flowers around her bare feet.

" I have failed you," she whispered leaning her forehead against the Guardian's right shoulder. " I have done the most unforgivable thing."

Enfolding the weeping young woman in his arms, Cu' patted her back and asked quietly, " What could you have done that warrants no forgiveness?"

"I thought, No..I Believed that my Other intentionally betrayed me." She sobbed, then pulled back to look up into Cu's questioning silver eyes. "My Other could never have done that...never. Because of superstitious fear my human heart was cast into doubt and because of that doubt I distrusted that which was the truth in my soul, choosing instead to believe the lie set before my eyes."

" What did you do?"

"In anger my betrayed human heart desired to inflict a punishment which would transcend death...I spent the last of my strength, the last of my will and the last of my power not to kill him and free his soul, but to trap him alone and leave him, unforgiven in darkness forever. Wrapped in a delusion, I destroyed my Other. Now we will never again be together."

"You...?" Cu's eyebrows raised up under his dark silver bangs,

" Sealed him," Even in her obvious distress the soul seemed eerily composed as she told Cu' what she had done. "With the power of a sacred arrow I betrayed him …."

"You...sealed him. Where?"

" I sealed him to the Tree of Ages, Guardian. I..." She gazed at him in alarm as a pleased grin broke over his face, making his large silver eyes sparkle gleefully.

" How can you even begin to find any thing humorous in this?" she demanded indignantly.

Spinning the Miko soul lightly around in a circle, the Guardian let out a delighted laugh, " Because you haven't failed me at all Child but have done exactly what I sent you to do. Had you deprived your Other of life, so that you both returned here together, would have meant the end of the game."

Confusion at last completely robbed her face of it's strange serenity.

" You didn't seal him out of hatred ,Child. You sealed him out of love." Embracing her in a gentle hug he whispered, " Your Other will be with you again. Don't worry." Almost as an afterthought, Cu' paused as he scratched the side of his face recalling how disturbingly feral the personality of the rough tongued hanyou had become, " Of course he isn't going to be very happy with anyone when he wakes up. But uh, we'll just worry about that later." After wiping away a tear tracing the soft contour of her left cheek, Cu' leaned over, kissed the Miko's forehead and announced, " Now it is time for you to go back out."

"But I died and have returned home..." She wore a puzzled expression, by now totally unable to recover her earlier composure.

" Yes, but remember, in sealing him, your Other couldn't. Therefore you still have a foot in the living world because of your close ties to one another. Lets not antagonize him further by making him wait too long to wake up."

" But..but I have no mortal body to return to. By now it has most probably been burned and the ashes enshrined."

" Minor setback..."Cu' held out his right hand to her. "Easily rectified detail.."

The Miko's eyes widened then just as abruptly narrowed in disgust. " Surely you don't mean to send me back as a..a revenant...that would be.."

"....Wasting time my dear," Reaching down Cu' firmly cupped her chin in his right hand and watched with a smile as her slender form quickly wavered, became transparent then coalesced once again into a shimmering white Soulsphere hovering just above the palm of his hand. A deep frown clouded the Guardian's features as he noticed a small discoloration trying to hide just beneath the surface of the sphere.

"Hn, so old Chaos has managed to touch you after all." Thoughtfully he ran the tip of his left index finger over the blemish. "Don't worry, I'll make sure it is expunged." Closing his eyes, Cu' began singing a oddly lilting incantation then, after blessing the Sphere with a breath, he launched it into the time-stream by flinging it up, out and toward the horizon on same path the earlier one had taken. 'That should send you far enough away to keep you safe until it is time to cleanse your soul,' he thought once the Soulsphere blinked out of sight.

" Congratulations Cu'," Like the unwelcomed nip of a serpent at heel, an unseen Speaker's quiet voice caught the attention of the Guardian's inner ear, "It was quite admirable of you not to succumb to temptation and excise the very source of the Chaos ripple as it lay so helpless in your hand."

" Oh, I tossed the idea around, but I had no wish to destroy one of my Children by doing so." Long fingered hand brushing idly against the flowers still riding on his waist, Cu' gazed out at the ever continuing Soulsphere dance, "Especially not for your amusement."

"What matters the destruction of one...or two in this case, if the loss can be justified." There was the hint of a sly chuckle behind the words.

" Those are losses I refuse to justify, there are other ways to deal with this problem. I wont be goaded into making any more unnecessary sacrifices." The Guardian's silver eyes narrowed in irritation at the feel of this uninvited incorporeal visitor trying to slide into his thoughts. It's efforts were ineffective with Cu' and so it had no way of learning exactly to where or to when Cu' had dispatched the last Soulsphere.

"I remember an occasion when you had to.....Justify. Do you really think I'm going to let this time turn out to be all that different ?"

"I'm not counting off the last time as a loss yet. Things can change."

"That's what I like about you Cu', always thinking you can squeeze in the win."

" Well there's nothing I like about your ass at all." Snapping his fingers, Cu' abruptly banished the Speaker from his mind, held his right hand up palm out and stepped back out into time.

With it's wooden guard looking only slightly more weathered than the last time he had seen it, the dry well now stood in a small clearing no longer sheltered by trees and free of the brushy undergrowth that had partially concealed it over a century and a half before. Affectionately patting it's lip, Cu' peered into the depths then pulled back with the overwhelming desire to hold his nose against an overpowering stench wafting up from the recesses of the inky hole.

" What tha..." leaning over the edge he took closer look. "Damn, whose been tossing Youkai guts in there? I swear," he muttered, " whats wrong with just burying shit these days?" Giving the well guard another pat he added, " Don't worry, soon you'll have something more important to do than just being a convenient receptacle for the hacked up remains of the recently deceased."

Orienting himself to the time altered surroundings, the Guardian headed off in the direction of a certain tree still standing proudly in the center of a clearing of it's own making. The scene he found before him on his arrival at the spot was not at all unexpected. Against the smooth straight bole of the Goshinboko, face relaxed as if in slumber, hung the body of the boy trapped in a state of eternal quiescence by a single arrow piercing his heart.

There was no mistaking exactly who he was, even though the child had somewhat matured since Cu's initial encounter with him. It would still be easy to call him a boy just in taking the youthful cast of his features into account, even though physically his body had indeed grown to a size indicative more of late adolescence or young adulthood. Yes, although he was different he was still overwhelmingly the same. Same bright red and strangely oversized clothing, same long silvery hair proudly crowned by the ears of a dog, same jetty eyebrows over a short upturned nose, same purity of soul shining like a light upon his face from the prison of an enchanted sleep.

Standing upon one of the larger age-gnarled roots of the Goshiboko, staring fixedly with narrowed yellow eyes at the motionless form of his long denied sibling, was the tall pale-haired Lord of the Western Lands, Sesshoumaru. Only a coldly baleful gleam lurking in the depths of that penetrating glare betrayed any underlying hint of emotion beneath the set mask of his face. Though regally elegant and as beautifully haunting visually as a solitary shaft of moonlight at midnight, the passage of those long years had rendered the Daiyoukai even more forebodingly dangerous than the last time Cu' had encountered him.

For a few moments Cu' watched the sadly tragic tableau in silence before releasing just enough of an aura to make his presence known. Without warning a long snaking whip of green energy snapped his way like the strike of an unnaturally fast cobra, the lethal tip pulling up short only a mere a finger's breadth away from the Guardian's unprotected throat. A nearly subliminal snarl of irritation revealed the Lord's disappointment in failing to tag the mark as he slid his gaze past his left shoulder just enough to catch Cu's form out of the corner of his eye.

" Doing well I see Sesshoumaru," Cu' stated mildly. The fact that the Youkai perched so quietly on a tree root before him had just attempted a surprise decapitation in greeting appeared to be a cause of no concern to the Guardian. " If you need a little target practice I'll be happy to offer up myself but don't start feeling inadequate when you can't land a hit."

A full complement of knuckles cracked sharply, their echoing pops causing a very noticeable decrease in all sounds of activity from any wildlife still remaining in the immediate area.

" Immune..." Cu' sauntered over, hopping up neatly to stand quite at ease next to the Lord, "...trying to skewer me will only result in broken nails."

A prolonged exhale accompanied the yellow eyes return to the face of the sleeper.

" Still out trotting about the countryside trying to promote your reputation as an icy hearted bastard?"

Silence. A weak breeze stirred snowy bangs against the crescent moon on the Lord's pale forehead. His face remained dispassionate, tawny eyes hooded to avoid showing any betraying emotion.

" Visit this area often?" Knowing full well that he had indeed been pulled to this very spot on a regular basis over the years, Cu' secretly smiled.

Silence. Picking up slightly, the breeze playfully swirled a silent rain of white blossoms down from the Goshinboko's flowering canopy to dance around the pair. A few came to rest among the strands of the sleeper's silver hair.

" Your father really must have been the gregarious member of your family. Trying to initiate a decent conversation with either of you boys is like trying to pry..."

" Leave." Though spoken softly the tone was that of one who fully expects to be instantly obeyed.

" Granted, while a great many beings in this world easily submit to the strength of a Daiyoukai's will, you have yet to learn that not all can be forced to cower when you growl. Like me." Folding his hands casually in front of him, Cu' gazed at the boy pinned against the smooth bark of the Goshinboko. " Or him. Your young brother seems to be completely beyond the influence of your control at this moment."

" This Sesshoumaru would have offered him a chance at redemption through providing his aide in turning aside the Neko threat had he not been so foolish as to lose his wretched heart to a human priestess. A clean death in battle would have been far preferable to the shameful spectacle he now provides."

" What makes you think he would have been so cooperative as to oblige you by dieing? Already years of necessity have forced InuYasha to become a tough and canny warrior."

" He is an inferior creature. The Cats would have made quick work of him, but at least in death he would have finally erased the stain left by my father."

" Inu would never have considered him an ' inferior creature '. He would have cherished him, as he did you."

"Cherished?" the word was almost spit out like some vile oath, then he continued in a tone as flat and guarded as his expression. " The only displays of filial affection my father chose to bestow upon this Sesshoumaru were with his prolonged and noticeable absences from my life. Father made no time for me. All that he 'Cherished' were the battles he waged to expand his territories.....Of having his enemies shake in fear at the sound of his name."

" Sesshoumaru, the Old Dog loved you..."

" Loved? A Daiyoukai loves nothing, GinCu'. It is a wasted emotion, without purpose, without meaning. In that my father taught this Sesshoumaru well. By living example he showed that only through a disciplined combination of strength, power and fear can one rule effectively. Nothing else can have any true meaning or purpose to a Daiyoukai. Love will never enter into that equation." No hint of anger marked the Lord's deep quiet voice, in fact no emotion of any kind lent color to his words at all. It was obvious to Cu' that Sesshoumaru had become quite as adept at masking the feeling in his voice as he had his face.

Never taking his yellow eyes from the sleeper's face Sesshoumaru continued speaking in that quiet, sterile voice, "Only at his end did Father finally weaken and begin espousing those vapid, spineless sentiments embraced with such enthusiasm by the weak. Under the guise of feigned paternal concern he worked to coerce my submission to his will by asking who did I protect. All that he really desired from me was to extract a promise to look after his human whore and her bastard."

Surprisingly the corners of his mouth seemed to turn up, gracing those perfect features with the trace of an unexpected and darkly disturbing smile. " This Sesshoumaru denied that promise to him as he stood bleeding into the Sea of the West. This Sesshoumaru denied it to him again as he laying dying, crushed beneath the weight of burning pillars and stone. This Sesshoumaru would yet deny it to him even if he rose up out of hell, to kneel and place his forehead upon my feet in supplication."

Narrowed eyes slid back once again fixing Cu' with a calculating look " You know what depth of love my father had for His Sesshoumaru, GinCu'? After throwing aside my mother to take up with a mortal bitch he intended to usurp my rightful place as his legitimate heir with this abomination hanging before me. What legacy did he leave me, GinCu'? What mark of his high regard? A worthless blade without an edge, a sword that is lethal to nothing except the air it is waved through. Where is what rightfully should be mine as his first born? You who claim to know so much, GinCu' tell me...where is his cutting fang? Where is Tetsusaiga?"

"In a very safe place..."

Sesshoumaru's withering glare demanded an immediate answer.

"...and it's location is none of your business." Cu' ignored the glare choosing instead to steer the subject away from the coveted heirloom sword. "It is a shame that you were led to be so sadly misinformed about your father's true priorities. It is also sad that you have allowed that misinformation to continually bias your judgment concerning this boy."

"This Sesshoumaru suffers no bias in regards to that stigma which once defiled my father's bloodline. InuYasha was worthless, an ignorant, ill mannered hanyou who understood nothing of his heritage..."

" Hn. Had you behaved otherwise towards him perhaps he wouldn't have been. He was never meant to replace you in your father's heart. He was meant to compliment you, be your trusted right hand, a liaison with the world that will be." Cu' idly caressed the tender petals of the pale pink bud at his waist, a tiny grin teasing along the corners of his mouth.

"This Sesshoumaru does not believe in your lies."

"As much as you would wish to deny it, no living being is without a heart that can be touched by love, even you. Your life will be a long one my Sesshoumaru and when I stand to greet you at it's end you will have learned that what you now hold to be the only truth was in reality the lie."

With a start, the Lord of the West glanced around certain that he had heard a strangely persuasive voice speaking softly right next to his left shoulder. The feeling that he had been involved in a conversation with someone was overpowering but except for his brother, forever shackled in the grip of an angry Miko's spell, the sunny glade surrounding the Goshinboko was deserted. No birds sang among the leafy green haven of the great tree's boughs, no squirrel chatter marked the passage of those agile bushy-tailed foragers along it's outstretched limbs. Only an occasional white blossom drifted down to disturb the eerie stillness of Goshinboko's clearing. Convinced that he was alone, Sesshoumaru once again directed his gaze towards his brother's serene face.

" You cheated me Little Brother. Your life was mine to take but in spite you relinquished it to the whim of an angry woman." Reaching up with slender long taloned fingers, the Lord combed a fallen blossom from the silver curtain of hair against InuYasha's cheek.

" You look too much like Father," he whispered quietly before turning on his heel and strolling slowly away, leaving his brother once again all alone.


	6. Chapter 6

**Over a cup of tea this humble person offers the Honorable Rumiko Takahashi thanks for her creation of InuYasha and his world. This humble person also assures her that she makes no money off this story. It is written purely for the enjoyment of writing it..and perhaps the enjoyment of any who happen to find it.**

**And yes, it is seven in the morning, so I really am drinking tea. **

**Cu' of course is mine and I told him to get his own tea.**

**I would like to thank WindMiko for continuing to bolster my self esteem....bows**

Chapter Seven

A rapid parade of changing seasons passed over Cu' after the tall figure of Lord Sesshoumaru faded out of sight to eventually be replaced by the shorter, plumper form of another frequent visitor to the Tree of Ages. Loitering for only a matter of a few minutes, according to his own unique view of time, the Guardian was well aware that in actuality Earthward had already progressed forward another two decades.

Lazily baking under a high summer sun, the lush countryside lay somnolently beneath a dull blanket of blue sky which was already buttered over with the gray haze of an impending afternoon thunderstorm. That the untouched sleeper had already endured many years in the Goshinboko's keeping was plainly evident by a tangle of thick woody vines that had sprung up long ago to sinuously entwine around his body in a graceful sylvan embrace. The unfaded crimson of his baggy robes peeked out from between thick clusters of dark green leaves like the brilliant red petals of well hidden flowers. Sagging slightly against his right shoulder, the sleeper's innocent boyish face remained uncovered and unchanged, framed by a flowing cascade of light silver colored hair.

Standing contemplatively below him was a buxom, black haired woman attired in the white and red clothing indicative of her vocation as a Miko, bearing a quiver full of arrows across her back and carrying a long bow. In order not to frighten this clearly preoccupied observer by suddenly just popping into view at her side, the Guardian walked around behind the tree before solidifying into his visible form. At the sound of the now corporeal Cu' stepping away from his hiding place she reacted with surprising swiftness by whirling to stare in his direction while smoothly nocking an arrow and readying herself to take the shot at the same time. Peering out of her one good eye, the woman glared harshly at him and barked out her demand, " What business have ye here in the forest of the InuYasha?"

Cu' sighed inwardly, hiding the sadness he felt over seeing that such a pretty little woman had been so unfortunate as to suffer the loss of one of her flashing dark eyes.

" Oh, I am Cu'," he replied gifting her with a pleasant smile, " Though there are some who know me as GinCu'. I will answer to whichever you prefer Lady Kaede."

His answered startled her. " How do ye know my name?"

" You are Lady Kaede, Miko of the village down by the river, are you not?" Disregarding her still drawn bow with it's threatening white fletched payload, Cu' took a few steps over to stand next to the tree. Atop his head a dark gray silk scarf blended almost perfectly into the color of his waist length hair and he wondered what she would do if she realized exactly what it was meant to conceal. 'Shoot your ass point blank in less than a heartbeat,' he dryly replied to himself.

Quickly stepping well back to put some distance between them, Kaede regarded the man's glittering silver eyes with obvious suspicion. "Exactly what are ye?" She asked warily, her voice low and tight in her throat, " Know ye that I shall suffer no Youkai's presence near the village under my care."

" Lady Kaede, do you really perceive some hostile aura emanating from me?" Then, to demonstrate a complete lack of concern at her unyielding defensive stance, Cu' folded his hands loosely behind him and turned his attention to the sleeper on the tree.

Unable to discern a trace of any kind of aura, Kaede at last lowered her bow though she still held it with the arrow nocked and ready. She watched Cu' closely, puzzlement clearly evident on her features. Though the man before her certainly appeared otherworldly, with his shinning hair slipping like liquid silver over his shoulders and around a face dominated by startling gray eyes, there was nothing radiating from him that struck her as at all demonic. Instead she felt surrounded only by a sublimely calm and peaceful sense of contentment that seemed to have the tall sparkling eyed stranger at it's center.

" Who are ye?" her voice softened and the draw on her bow relaxed slightly.

" Only a traveler seeking unusual sights, Lady Kaede. I heard a tale that here in this land of Musashi there was an ensorcelled Youkai in the forest near your village. This is him?"

" Aye, but he lies under the spell of no foul magician." Kaede cast her bright dark eye around toward the sleeper. The pull on her bowstring eased even more as the last of her fast dwindling apprehension fled. "My dear Sister sealed yon hanyou to this tree with her sacred arrow. The InuYasha was captured by a holy spell and will be pinned here forever in punishment for his vile transgressions."

"Really.... What heinous form of villainy could this child of the forest have been guilty of that would merit having his soul condemned forever into Nowhere?"

" Nowhere? What mean ye by that?"

" Only that he doesn't appear to be very...well..uh, dead." Leaping up on a root to get closer Cu' placed a hand below the sleeper's nose, then turned and gave her a good-natured shake of his head, "Not breathing, so...I guess you could say he doesn't appear to be very much alive either."

" The hanyou is rightfully sealed. He'll be of no trouble to anyone anymore." Kaede watched the strange man hop lightly back down and reclasp his slender, long-fingered hands behind his back.

" Still..if he were truly dead, his soul would be able to reincarnate. Then he would have at least a chance to make up for past mistakes, would he not? Instead the boy has been consigned to an eternity of unresolved issues." Kaede's one eye narrowed sharply, but Cu' ignored the dirty look she was giving him and continued blithely on.

" Yes, that is a sad fate. Since he really isn't dead, his soul cannot return. So it is stuck in limbo. It is Nowhere," With a rueful chuckle, Cu' glanced up at the Goshinboko's canopy, rocked back on his heels and muttered loud enough,of course, for the Priestess beside him to hear, " That was really a pretty shitty thing your late sister did, depriving him of ever having any chance of spiritual atonement."

Kaede stared at him in open mouthed indignation a moment. "How dare ye badmouth my sister! She did exactly what needed to be done, paid him in the coin that he deserved."

" Oh?" Cu' asked mildly, happy that her anger was up. Getting it out of the way now would make things easier in the future.

" The InuYasha ransacked our village in an attempt to make away with the Shikon No Tama," she replied defensively, a suddenly revived ember of long ago rage smoldering deeply within her dark eye. " In doing so he destroyed the ancient shrine which used to stand close by this spot in which the jewel was housed. During the attack he fatally wounded Sister Kikyou, thus depriving us of her blessed presence as our village priestess. Are those not crimes enough to warrant his punishment? Who knows what other black deeds he perpetrated on others before coming here to plague us."

" And your sister sealed him you say..."

" Aye, before she died, Sister Kikyou was able to stop him, even though grievously wounded and close to death herself."

" What of the cause of all this misery, the Shikon No Tama?"

" As she requested with her last breath, we burned the cursed thing with her, so that the world could at last be rid of it."

Which explained just how the ever devious Chaos had managed to reach out and scar the lovely Soulchild. Scratching his chin speculatively, Cu' nodded then smiled warmly at Kaede once again.

" Your sister must have indeed been a very powerful Miko to create so a lasting spell as she was dying." Idly Cu' reached up and slid a finger down along the arrow's shaft to where it transfixed the sleeper's heart. " It would have been far simpler, it seems, just to kill him."

" I have often wondered myself why she did not do so," Kaede admitted softly. " The power she used in sealing him surely ensured her own death. For thirty years he has hung here like this, while my sister is naught but ashes and charred bones in her grave." Chewing her bottom lip thoughtfully she paused before dolefully adding, "It does not seem right that one so pure as my dear sister should be so long ago reduced to dust while such an evil creature as the InuYasha remains whole and untouched by time."

"Perhaps he was not so very evil at all. You know why your sister couldn't bring herself to kill him, even at the end when she believed so completely in his betrayal." His words were as warmly hypnotic as the blanket of calm enfolding her. Cu' glanced out of the corner of his eye at Kaede to see her looking up at InuYasha's peaceful face with a relaxed and somewhat dreamy expression on her own.

" Sister Kikyou...loved him," was her simple, almost whispered reply.

" Kaede, could so pure a Miko love someone who was truly evil?" Cu' inquired casually.

" I..I don't know. He was a..a hanyou. Everyone knows such unnatural perversions shouldn't be allowed to live. They are wild and unpredictable creatures having little more than the base sensibilities of an animal and the soul of a beast." Her dreamy look quickly hardened into one of fierce resolve as the old prejudices that she had been brought up to believe reasserted themselves within her conscious thought. " He tricked her with the cunning of the animal he was. Gained her trust...Led her to think that he truly cared about her. Then he killed her.."

" Given his present circumstances it would seem that deep down she did not believe him to be evil at all. Even in the face of what she perceived to be a flagrant betrayal of her heart, your Kikyou was still was unable to kill him."

" But..no.. NO!" Confusion warred with certainty on her face. Pointing an accusatory finger at the body of InuYasha she snapped, " He murdered her! That is the monster responsible for my sister's death!

" ...And you saw him strike her down..."

" No. I was in the village...But I know that he did it..and...she sealed..she..him..."

" Kaede, as a child you knew this InuYasha. In your heart do you really feel that he was a monster?" Exhaling quietly, Cu' strengthened his calming aura, lulling the agitated Miko back into a more peacefully receptive frame of mind. " Tell me about him, Kaede. Tell me what you truly remember."

Her face had once again taken on that dreamy, far away look. Without thinking she slid the arrow smoothly back into it's quiver while dropping the hand holding the bow down to her side. "Aye," she said in a whisper, " I remember him. Whenever Sister Kikyou left the village he was her willing shadow... seemed content to follow her everywhere.... Sometimes, when we went to gather herbs, they would sit in the high meadow and talk.... or at least Sister would talk, he usually kept silent. " Kaede shook her head slightly. "He was such a wild, shy boy with a rough temper and a rougher tongue....but Sister always could make him find his manners in her presence."

As she reminisced, Kaede's face broke into a smile. " He wasn't so fearsome at all around her. All Sister would have to say is, ' Such language, InuYasha ' and he would crouch down with his hands splayed out between his feet and his ears drooping flat against his head like a chastised puppy."

"Your Sister was the first civilizing influence in his life since his mother." Cu' chuckled, "Living in a cast off and neglected state for a nearly a century and a half a tends to corrode even the best of manners."

" What say ye? Why look at him, he was not much more than a boy..."

" Yes, a boy, albeit by human reckoning a very old one." Stepping closer to the Miko, who was peering up at the sleeper trying to reconcile what she had just learned with what she saw before her eyes, Cu' continued in his soft hypnotic voice, "A boy who had been tossed aside, left to make his own way for a very,very long time. A good child, my Lady Kaede, twisted by malignant circumstances into something wild and rude simply because after his mother died...no one wanted him."

With both upbringing and training once more trying to insinuate themselves back into her conscious sensibilities Kaede countered," But he was a hanyou, half Youkai.."

Glittering silver eyes gazed steadily into her own, the soothing voice of reason drowning out the the ones of long standing and well rehearsed fears. " Yes Kaede, his father was a Daiyoukai, the Great Dog of the West, but his mother was human and so he is as much one side of that coin as the other. He has a loving human heart and Kikyou recognized that not with her eyes, but with her soul. Look not with your eyes my Kaede, but with your soul..You know that InuYasha is not evil. That he did not kill your sister..In your soul, you know."

" No, he was not.. He could not..but," her steadfast opinion of InuYasha's guilt finally faltered.

" Search deeply Miko, you have seen what is truly evil..you remember..." Within her mind his voice echoed subliminally, like the sound of a light spring rain that comes along on a gentle breeze right before dawn," You recognized it as a small child, Kaede. It was not InuYasha who was the evil to be feared..."

" It was Onigumo," she whispered, tightly clenching her fists at the almost forgotten memory of the burned and broken thief her sister had graciously tended. " Onigumo was the name of the true evil."

A couple of tiny brown birds sang out to each other as they hopped from one leafy twig to another high above her head. With it's great boughs soughing in the wind, a few smaller branches let loose a flurry of green leaves that danced around the Miko as Goshinboko roused her from a state of quiet reverie. Glancing around she noticed that it had grown much darker to the north, the rising wind signaling an onrushing thunderstorm which had been leisurely building over the course of a long hot summer afternoon.

Slinging her bow across her shoulder, Kaede grimaced at the thought of getting wet, wondering how close to home she could get before getting caught in the downpour. Appraising her chances with another quick look skyward, she slipped out of her sandals, scooped them up by the thongs and began a very ' unMiko' like sprint for the path back to the village.


	7. Chapter 7

**Like so many others who don't own InuYasha I pause to give my respects to the talented woman who does, Rumiko Takahashi. As always this story is a gift, written not to make money but for pure enjoyment only.**

**Hopefully those of you who are reading this humble person's gift will find this latest chapter just as enjoyable as the last seven....heavens has it only taken GinCu' eight to make the wind up?**

*** Cu' jumps up and waves at WindMiko then hits Cu'Cebh on the head with a flower and tells her to get back to work ***

** "hmmm, no pleasing some guys..."**

** "I'm a deity...get it right."**

Chapter Eight

She had no idea what compelled her to leave the pile of vegetables she was preparing for dinner scattered about, half chopped on the kitchen counter, stop to put the kettle on to heat water for tea and step out the back door to gaze expectantly toward the huge God Tree that towered over one side of the Shrine grounds, but that is exactly what Umeko Higirashi found herself suddenly doing in the middle of a very ordinary day.

Courtesy of an unscheduled German tour bus, a much larger number of visitors than usual were scattered about the neatly swept courtyard enjoying the pleasant weather of an exceptionally lovely afternoon. Most of them were, predictably, gravitating around the immediate environs of the historic shrine itself, with many providing their much welcomed patronage to the tiny on-site gift shop. Momentarily the image crossed her mind of a certain elderly shrine keeper doing an ecstatic 'happy dance' behind the counter while totaling up the windfall that this unexpected crowd of tourists represented. Umeko briefly considered going to see if her father-in-law needed any help, but that idea abruptly vanished, to be tucked away beside any thoughts of fixing dinner, as soon as she saw the solitary figure standing beneath the Goshinboko.

It was quite evident to her, even from a distance that this one one particular visitor hadn't arrived on the bus. Pale skinned, the tall slender figure was clothed entirely in what appeared to be a loose but well fitted outfit made of light gray silk. Although for the most part austerely plain, both of the wide bell-shaped sleeves of the outer robe were finely embroidered in shimmering designs depicting the flight of snow white cranes. From the dark silver of his hair, rippling in silky waves down his back to the tops of his polished gray boots, the man 's form coruscated brightly in the dappling of sunlight falling through Goshinboko's thick canopy of leaves making it appear as though he were covered in a finely powdered dust made of diamonds. Hands loosely clasped behind his back and apparently quite oblivious to the tourists around him, the man appeared to be lost in contemplation studying an old scar which marred the otherwise unblemished bole of the tree.

Mesmerized, Mrs. Higirashi made her way over to the Goshinboko for a closer look. She was quite startled to discover that not only were the hair and clothing of this unusual guest silver gray, so were a pair of upright dog ears poking through the thick hair on top of his head.

Even though shocked by the sight, fascination trampled her sense of propriety. Umeko stared in wide-eyed astonishment at the man several minutes before thinking to glance around to see if anyone else was aware of his strange anomaly. Surprisingly, out of the all people in the immediate vicinity she was the only one paying any attention to him at all.

The ear closest to her flicked in her direction and a warm, low pitched voice said, " This is really a delightful old tree Umeko." Then he turned to grace her with a friendly smile.

Inwardly ashamed of her uncharacteristic display of rudeness, Mrs. Higirashi once again found herself staring at him, this time totally unable to break away from sight before her. His face was perfect, it's beauty that of a young man on the cusp of adulthood, dominated by a pair of black-lashed silvery gray eyes that emanated from within their glittering depths a silent demand for her undivided attention. Overcome by a deep sense of calm she relaxed and covering her lips with the tips of her fingers, Umeko shyly smiled back at him.

" How did you know my name is Umeko?" she asked, her eyes still glued to the stranger's face.

" I heard the Shrine Keeper mention your name to one of the guests. They were comparing the merits of homemade dumplings, I believe. He was most adamant that his daughter Umeko made the best he had ever tasted." There was an unspoken question in her eyes at his answer and the stranger laughed as he added, "Very few ladies visit a shrine wearing their house slippers and an apron."

" Oh my," Umeko blushed, "I guess not."

" Do you know, this lovely tree is now the oldest of it's kind left in Japan." Giving the Goshinboko a gentle pat he returned his attention to the petite wide-eyed woman standing next to him. " Ah, forgive me, Child, it seems that my poor manners have put you at a disadvantage. My name is Cu'...and yes. I certainly would like that cup of tea you are going to offer me."

Mrs. Higirashi's mouth fell open then closed with a snap as she realized the strange young man was already halfway across the busy courtyard heading directly toward her house. As she caught up to him it surprised her to see that absolutely no one in the crowd around them had as yet shown the slightest amount of interest in either his odd apparel or his even odder ears. As they made their way through the milling group of visitors, it was as though he was entirely invisible to everyone's eyes but her own.

Cu' politely ushered Umeko into her own home, paused to pull off his boots and stand them neatly beside the door, then took seat on one of the cushions at the low kitchen table. He sat quietly watching Umeko prepare the tea, his arms folded across his chest and a pleasant smile playing across his handsome face.

After serving him a cup of tea, Umeko lowered herself onto the seat across from her unexpected guest. For a quiet moment she gazed into the steam arising from her own cup before asking in a shy voice, "What you said about the Goshinboko tree...about it being the oldest in Japan..surely there are some as old, if not even older."

"No, not a one. Looking at it you wouldn't think it to be exceptionally ancient but," he took a sip of tea," it is actually quiet venerable and has passed down through the long years of it's life unmarked, except for the scar on it's side."

She smiled, glancing up to meet his eyes. " One of Dad's favorite stories about the history of this shrine, concerns that mark."

Cu' nodded over the rim of his cup for her to continue.

" It's part of the Legend of the Jewel of Four Souls. Supposedly there once was a demon sealed to the tree by a Miko in that very spot where the scar is now."

" Yes," Cu' nodded amiably, " But it was a half demon actually...a hanyou named InuYasha, sealed by the sacred arrow of the lovely Kikyou...tragic story really."

Umeko gave him a puzzled look, " Dad never mentioned their names. In the only version I've ever heard they were just called the Demon and the Miko....after all, it's only just an old legend..." Cu's silver eyes were staring back at her over the rim of his cup, ".....isn't it? ...an old story?"

" It is an old story, Child," Cu' placed his cup down on the table in front of him, "which just happens to be true. Goshinboko's scar is in the very place where InuYasha was pinned for fifty years. He slept there, under Kikyou's enchantment until he was finally awakened and set free by her reincarnation."

" But, really there are no such things as de...." her eyes traveled up to fasten on the sight of Cu's silver furred ears. He wiggled them and winked at her roguishly. " Those are very real, aren't they?" she squeaked and pushed away from the table. Her heart began to race anxiously with the realization that perhaps she was sitting in her kitchen and chatting over tea with something that reason told her didn't exist.

" Oh yes, quite real. But they are only ears Lady Umeko. You needn't fear them and you needn't fear me." In a warm white glow Cu's aura intensified, it's peaceful calm wrapping gently around his uneasy hostess and immediately soothing Mrs. Higirashi's somewhat jittery nerves before she could bolt out the back door and run screaming across the Shrine's broad courtyard like a madwoman.

" I guess," she took a deep breath as her heart rate returned to normal. Focusing on the finely grained wood gleaming below the mats on the table top Umeko said softly, " It's just that you..err, they are so...unusual...your ears. I mean." Discreetly scooting back into place Umeko relaxed and settled onto her cushion, wondering not only why she had allowed a strange man into her house but why she was suddenly not the least bit afraid of him any more. But had she truly been afraid? She couldn't remember being so. Looking back up into Cu's face she smiled and reached for her cup.

" Yes, I suppose they are," his right ear performed a neat little flick-twitch, it's delicate movement not at all missed by his Hostess, "but should you one day, in say the very near future, meet someone else with a pair like mine they will perhaps not seem nearly quite so shocking or strange?" Cu' retrieved his cup as well, paused to swirl the contents thoughtfully, took another sip and watched with raised brows as the little woman across from him gulped down her entire cup of tea without pausing for a breath. As soon as she sat her cup back on the table Cu' leaned across and caught her eyes with his glittering silver gaze. "I've come to talk with you today about your daughter."

" Kagome?" A natural look of motherly alarm crossed her face. "What about my daughter?"

" Kagome," Cu' reflected for a moment, then smiled, " How lovely. Not a common name at all....yes, very pretty indeed."

" Why do you want to talk about my daughter?"

" Because she is very important, Child," Cu' whispered. Before Umeko could back away he reached over and traced a counterclockwise spiral in the center of her forehead with his right index finger.

" Kagome, impor.... Guardian?" Recognition lit up her features in the form of a welcoming smile. "It is good to see you again. What is it that you wish of me?"

"I am here about Kagome. She will turn fifteen tomorrow," he stated simply before taking another sip of his tea. Stopping to savor the taste before continuing he gazed deeply into her eyes, " Before she can leave for school in the morning your daughter is going to fall into the Bone Eater's well."

"Oh,my," Umeko sat up, a startled expression on her face, " That old well is really very deep. I'll have Dad put a lock on the well house door tonight..Thank you for war..."

" No, you must absolutely not lock up the well..."

" But Guardian, she may be severely injured.." Motherly concern was again trying to clouding her reception of Cu's message.

" She wont be. Trust me Child. She is meant to fall down the well." His aura strengthened to reassure her. Although Umeko possessed a mature soul, it was still one that Cu' had sent much farther forward in time than what it would have normally been reborn into. Sometimes a prolonged limbo of waiting for rebirth made a soul temporarily forget things, fogging it's memory with doubts and half truths. The Guardian sighed inwardly at the sad fact that because of this, she may have mostly forgotten why he had sent her ahead in the first place. 'Have to make do with what you have..'

" I do trust you Guardian..but why..."

" The soul of the tragic Miko in your old story is the very same soul that I sent to be reborn as your daughter, Kagome. She must fall through the well to be reunited with her Other."

" Her...Other?" Umeko blinked at that piece of information, " She is tied to another soul...who?"

" That of InuYasha, the half demon...Kagome is the one in the story who woke him back up."

" But, Guardian that legend is centuries old. There is no such thing as demons.."

" Umeko, open your mind, try to remember why you are here." Taking her chin in his hand Cu' stared into her wide brown eyes, reaching deep into the mind behind them to repair what had been lost.

" There are no demons now..no magic in this age...no miracles," her voice took on a flat, expressionless tone.

" Of course there are," Cu' muttered as he concentrated on fixing what time had broken, " They're just not talked about," he smiled to himself as his fix snapped neatly into place, "Who do you think does them?"

" Guardian what is it you wish of me?" Mrs. Higirashi's face was serene, her eyes full of trust as she watched Cu' refill her cup with steaming hot tea.

" Kagome has accepted a very special task. Her soul was sent forward into this time both as a protection and to insure she successfully completes what she is set to do. Tomorrow she will return to a time five centuries in the past to free InuYasha. This is what is meant to be."

Umeko nodded her understanding Picking up his cup, Cu' stood gracefully ,walked over to the sink and continued talking while he washed, dried and put away the evidence of a guest for tea. " In three days she will come home, followed a short time later by her Other. For the next year Kagome will spend a great deal of her time in the past with him. You must always support her in this task and never forbid her to go Umeko. She will be well protected by InuYasha for they are rare souls who have been drawn together and shown love and selfless devotion to each other over countless lifetimes."

Again the serenely smiling woman nodded. "I am honored to be entrusted with this duty, Guardian and will do my best to see that she is successful."

Cu' knelt down next to her. "I know that you will, Child." He rested the tip of his right index finger lightly on her brow. " In one year the well will close and Kagome will not be able to pass through it again for three. When it opens for the final time.."

" I will let her go with gladness in my heart..."

" Yes, Child," Cu's long finger traced a clockwise spiral as he whispered, " You will, with much gladness and great joy.."

" Hey Mom, I'm home," Souta Higirashi barreled into the kitchen in the way that small energetic boys have and plopped down at the table across from his mother. " Whats for dinner anyway? I'm hungry now..can I have a snack? Mom?...uh, Mom?"

Umeko Higirashi looked up from her cup of tea with a start. Souta was leaning across the table waving his small grimy hand in her face. " Oh, my...Souta! Stop that.." she recovered her motherly poise quickly, "I was just thinking about Kagome's party tomorrow," then her motherly eyes got a good look at her son's dirt begrimed fingernails, " Oh, Souta ….go wash up.."

" But Mom," with speed born of guilt the dirty hands disappeared behind his back, " Can't I have a snack?"

"Not with those hands..now go wash up dear. It will soon be time for dinner."

Bounding back out as noisily as he had come in, the sound of sneaker clad feet pounding up the staircase was interrupted by series of loud thumps, bumps and thuds that sounded suspiciously like the contents of his backpack being accidentally unloaded right in the middle of the stairs. There was a childish grumble she didn't quite catch.

"Souta???" It was the ' Mom Voice ' that always got an answer. " No running in the house, dear."

"Sorry Mom.." What ever mess had decorated the stairs was hastily removed and the footsteps continued on their way in a much more subdued manner.

Mrs. Higirashi stared back down at her teacup. What ever had possessed her to sit around all afternoon drinking tea? She glanced over at the scattered vegetables on the counter, the head of cabbage half cut through and still partially impaled on her favorite kitchen knife. Sighing she then stood up and placed her cup in the sink. By the clock she had sat daydreaming for over an hour, but she couldn't even remember when she had actually sat down, or why. Shaking her head she freed the long bladed knife from it's cabbage prison and resumed her interrupted chopping.

" Hey Mom, I'm home," Kagome breezed past the kitchen door, then backed up to poke her head in.

"I aced that math test today," she said brightly, "..and got a ninety six on my history paper."

" That's wonderful dear," Mrs. Higirashi smiled up at her daughter then continued assaulting the wedge of cabbage in front of her.

" Mom, I was wondering, would it be OK if I meet Yuka and Eri at the mall later?"

" I don't think that will be a problem, dear. If you could though, " the pile of chopped cabbage was scooped into a waiting bowl and several carrots, an onion a pair of sweet potatoes fell prey to Mama Higirashi's relentless attack, " go help your Gramps inventory some of the new stock for the gift-shop. He had a busy day today and I'm afraid he hasn't had a chance to open up the delivery that arrived this morning."

" Sure thing Mom, I'll go change and help him out. What all came in?"

" He said something about expecting a case of Shikon Jewel key rings, among other things." Mrs. Higirashi smiled at her daughter and shook her head, "You know your Grandpa, always looking for something new that might sell."

"Gramps and those silly glass beads," Kagome rolled her eyes, reshouldered her yellow backpack then trotted up the stairs. There was a surprised quickly escalating into angry, "Hey! What do you think you're doing in my room?" followed by the sound of a slamming door and the return of energetic boy feet rushing back down the stairs.

" Going over to Hiro's, Mom," Souta called out as he shot swiftly through the kitchen and out the back door, a hairsbreadth ahead of the sound of one being yanked back open upstairs.

"Souta !!! Who said you could read my diary?"

"He's not here, dear," Mama called cheerily over her shoulder, then shook her head at the grumble that escaped over the slam of a closing door. Thankfully not all days were this noisy in the Higirashi household. Most were on the whole really quite tranquil in spite of the fact that her daughter could be a little hot tempered and her son a little too nosy for his own good. She laughed at the thought. Mr. Nosy got to Miss Hot Temper every time, but at least the storms were always short, blowing off as quickly as they came up.

Finished with the chore of chopping, Mama tidied up the counter then went to the refrigerator to pull out the rest of the ingredients for dinner. Hers was a peaceful household, stable, unexciting and quite ordinary, a home where nothing unusual, unless daydreaming over tea all afternoon counted, ever happened. Umeko Higirashi loved her children, her father-in-law and her quiet life at Higirashi Shrine.

At the moment she had no idea that in less than a week her kitchen would be invaded by the presence of a brash, foulmouthed bundle of energy wearing bright red and crowned not only by a thick mop of light silver hair but a proudly upright pair of dog ears as well. If anyone had told her that this was what lay in the near future she would of course have laughed, quite politely behind her dainty fingertips, at the very absurdity of such an idea. Things like that just didn't happen in real life, not to her and not to her family.

She would have been even more astonished had she known that when it most certainly did happen, she would take one look at the scowling intruder, rub both of his fuzzy ears and realize that she was not surprised by his wonderfully strange appearance at all.

Cu' sat above his garden watching the Soulspheres dance, a contented smile on his face now that the mortal stage was set to host the eternal play. This time it was a game that he had no intention of losing. He had already sent out the last of the blossoms from the spray of flowers lately decorating his waist, gifting each with his blessing and the strength they would need to complete their goals. The first he had sent out was a happy shade of orange, the serene blue and deep pink colored ones following a short time later. Like a special treasure he had held onto the fragile bud with its bright green bracts until nearly the last moment before sending it out to meet the soul that so desperately needed it.

The past was set, the present was set, the future was set and so Cu' leaned back on his hands, crossed his legs at the ankle and waited. Predictably it wasn't a very long wait.

"You really do think you can win this time don't you ?" a sly voice whispered in his mind's ear.

" Damn right ya stupid bastard," the Guardian spoke out loud, a smirk curling up the corners of his mouth as he lay back in the tall grass, head comfortably pillowed on his hands," this time your sorry ass is mine."


	8. Chapter 8

**"Once more into the breach".... of course that's Shakespeare. And as you can see I'm giving him credit for it too.**

**As always I bow to the talented Rumiko Takahashi who is the creator and owner of InuYasha. I am here to play with her characters only in fun...not to make any money off of them.**

**Hopefully those of you who have been following my story will enjoy this little interlude...No, it is not a wild tangent as you will see later on in Chapter 10.**

**Until then....**

Chapter Nine

A flock of startled birds took flight in response to the sudden violent commotion taking place beneath the oak tree serving as their roost. In an eerie mimicry of the fleeing birds, a scattering of misplaced leaves swirled wildly skyward buoyed upon a rising cloud of yellow dust. Within the dust cloud a jarring cacophony composed of the mingled sounds of several loud, sharp cracks indicative of splintering limbs, the staccato popping of smaller snapping branches, an assortment of curses and yells and the subtle underscoring of a low pitched sibilant hiss made the saner denizens of the forest pause to silently evaluate the rapidly escalating event. Predictably the noise level quickly reached a pitch that had every living creature with even half a brain fleeing the area in a mad dash to ensure their own continued self preservation. Like some powerful soloist overshadowing the entire mad symphony an angry voice bellowed out triumphantly "Kaze no Kizu!" only to to have it turned into a truncated yell of victory as it was successfully interrupted by an even louder 'KerSwack', followed by a "Damn it all.. You get back here!" then the biggest splintering crack of all.

For a split second silence reigned then a renewed crashing, popping and snapping heralded the hasty retreat of a huge lizard youkai who's tiny pea-sized brain had just wisely decided that retreat was a more viable option than hanging around and waiting to be blasted into smoldering bits by an irate hanyou wielding an oversized sword. While this suddenly enlightened lizard crashed off through the forest, leaving behind a wide swath of crushed and mangled vegetation littering it's wake, the friends of the still stunned hanyou were rushing to his aide to ascertain that he was not mortally injured.

At the moment the only mortal injury afflicting this particular half demon was the one making lacy little doilies out of his pride. It was bad enough having some overgrown, buggy-eyed gecko manage to abort his attack by literally turning tail to run just when he was at the top of his swing but having that same tail whip back around to slap him ass first into an oak tree....well that just bit the big hairy ones. Getting a swing blocked now and then happened, he could deal with that but...Yeah, this time he'd been showing off too. For her, for the girl. For Kagome. Showing off because, after selflessly protecting her from another marauding demon, he had simply wanted her to smile up at him with that purely Kagome look of adoration shining in the light of her big brown eyes. That was the look that made him feel good, made him feel like he was actually worthy of being around her after all. Sure he'd just say it was nothing, bark about getting on with the hunt, act like the surly idiot everyone enjoyed calling him...yeah he'd pretend. Pretend that if she loved him as more than just a friend that's the way she would always look up at him...after all a guy could dream, right?

He wouldn't be getting that special look today though. No...no. It was going to be the one of forehead pinching worry and big eyed concern instead. If things seemed really bad unshed tears would be brightening her eyes and spilling over onto her lashes, driving him absofuckinlutely nuts because he couldn't stand to see her cry. To make matters worse the worriedly-concerned look was nearly always accompanied by that little white box full of stinky ointments and sticky skin plasters she insisted on covering his injuries with... liberally, in spite of any colorfully crude protests he cared to make.

' Yep...Definitely not 'a Kagome looks like she loves me' ending for this little fiasco.'

Opening his eyes slowly, InuYasha tried to focus on the sight of his four friends running toward him then scowled to see that 'damned concerned ' expression plainly showing on all of their faces. With an irritated snort he braced for what was about to descend on him, once again they were going to insist on worrying about a few trivial scratches he had picked up in a fight.

His vision was momentarily obscured by a lazily drifting leaf catching on the thick tangle of bangs hanging down over his eyes. In trying to see exactly where it was, so that he could displace it with a puff of precisely aimed breath, he turned his face up to the approaching group wearing a look that prompted an anguished cry of "Oh, no!...InuYasha are you alright?" from an already tearing up Kagome.

Her quite obvious distress was at the same time counterpointed by a subtly amused, " Wow, InuYasha hit that tree so hard he got knocked cross-eyed !" in a dry little voice that could only belong to the Kitsune, Shippou.

" I'm not knocked cross-eyed, Runt," InuYasha growled, " I'm trying to get rid of.." finally reaching up he swatted the leaf out of his field of vision, "..that damned thing."

Hovering in front of him, her thoughts haunted by some of the medical dramas she had seen on T.V., Kagome began frantically waving two fingers in front of his eyes, still unconvinced that he wasn't suffering from some horrible head injury. "InuYasha, how many fingers do you see?"

InuYasha jerked his head back, away from her moving hand. " I wont be seeing anything if you put out my damned eyes Wench. Quit that!"

" She's only trying to help you," Sango said quietly, giving him a reproving shake of her head.

" Well trying to blind me ain't much help, is it?" He just wished they would all step back out of the way, they were starting to crowd around him too closely. Feeling closed in, especially by a crowd of bodies, made him distinctly uncomfortable, made him get defensive, made him want to snap.

" Are you alright InuYasha?" Miroku bobbed his head around, as he calmly appraised the hanyou's unfortunate position in relation to the tree.

" Of course I'm alright," InuYasha glared up at him from under jet black brows. "Don't I look alright to you?" That's when it occurred to him that he was actually having to look up to see the Monk's face. In fact he was having to look up to see all of them. ' Fuck, when did they get taller than me?'

" Well..Not, exactly.." Miroku said thoughtfully as he walked slowly around the tree, the rings of his staff jingling merrily in time with his measured paces.

Kagome followed the Monk, her brown eyes filled with worry, " How are we going to get him out of there?"

"Out of where?" InuYasha demanded irritably. Speculation had already edged out concern on their faces and he found that their suddenly nervous glances irked him even more.

" This Tree," His friends all replied in unison.

" You appear to be stuck," added the Monk, a small twinkle lit his eyes, "or have you forgotten?"

" Of course I haven't forgotten," Looking over his shoulder, InuYasha took stock of as much of his current situation as he could see, which was mostly rough bark about nine inches away from the tip of his nose. 'Shit, I'm stuck in a tree..How the fuck did that happen? Oh..right that damned lizard.'

Like some unwelcomed miniscule mind reader the Kitsune chose that moment to pipe up," Told you guys he hit hard. He didn't even realize his butt's buried in the trunk of that oak tree." A deeply menacing, throaty growl coming from the oak's unwitting captive inspired the little fellow to move swiftly out of reach as he decided it would be more enjoyable to watch the proceedings from a safer distance perched on the back of the fire cat, Kirara.

The fact that Shippou stopped to retrieve his drawing pad and crayons out of Kagome's yellow back pack before taking a seat wasn't at all lost on InuYasha. Visions of just what the sly tyke was planning to sketch made the hanyou growl again, only this time louder. A sharp rap on the top of his head, accompanied by the jingle of brass rings caused the half demon to turn his attention back to his friends still clustered immediately in front of him.

" Concentrate on the task at hand, InuYasha," Miroku said with a smile. " You can threaten Shippou later, first we really must get you out of..err off of this lovely oak."

" You're sure you're alright ?" Kagome asked crouching down so that her face was even with the disgruntled half demon's. " You don't feel like anythings..uh ..broken do you?"

"The only thing that's gonna be broken around here is the Runt's head when I get my hands on him..." his voice got noticeably louder, "..if he's sittin' over there drawin' what the fuck I think he is.."

" InuYasha..." Kagome's voice took on a decidedly menacing tone of it's own. In fact it was the same tone she generally used exclusively for him right before she said his least favorite word in the whole wide world.

" Say IT and I'm gonna die laughing when this damn tree comes right down on top of your head," he smirked. Since the whole situation was beginning to eat a gaping hole through his last rational nerve, causing Mr. Mouth to forget all about his frequently ignored friend Mr. Brain in favor of Mr. Foot, InuYasha continued on to thoroughly spite himself, "Then you can just bury me and all my fuckin' problems will be solved...Bitch."

Daggers shot out of her eyes, but for once she held her tongue and didn't even whisper that awful, terrible, degrading word. No...he wasn't going to be getting that loving Kagome look at all today.... and from the expression on her pretty little face, she probably wasn't going to forget about what he had just said either.

Standing upright, Kagome brushed her hands briskly together to knock the dust off, at just about the level of InuYasha's face, as she primly announced, " Right! Well then....we'll just have to pull you out." She mirrored the hanyou's earlier smirk with one of her own as she heard him snorting to clear his nose. Nodding at Miroku and Sango she latched onto InuYasha's right arm and gave it a surprisingly strong tug.

" Hey! What the hell ya..." InuYasha's squawk of a protest was interrupted as the duo on his left quickly got into position and began to pull on him as well.

" Might I remind you that this is for your benefit, InuYasha," Miroku said quite calmly as he grabbed the hanyou under the armpits in an attempt to drag him forward off the tree. " We can't go after that shard with you lazing the day away in the shade like this."

" We're only trying to help you," Sango added, tugging away on his left arm, nails bearing down with enough force to be noticeable, even through the armor of his firerat. Apparently she was pissed at what he had said to Kagome as well.

"Stop ! Damn it, Stop! Leave me alone!" A wild flurry of long red sleeves whipped through the air as InuYasha swatted his well meaning friends away to reclaimed a pair of somewhat abused arms. " I can get my own ass off of this tree all by myself." He glowered at them, eyebrows almost pinching together over the bridge of his nose with the intensity of his scowl, both hands raised to hold them at bay with a poised set of claws. In a coordinated move that appeared as well rehearsed as any dance step the trio stepped back to silently watch him.

" Since our help isn't needed, you go right ahead," a lingering residual of bruised feelings was still clearly evident behind the forced cheerfulness of Kagome's voice.

Not wanting to show any sign of the guilty little gremlins hammering away at his own conscience for making her feel that way, InuYasha stared straight ahead, resolutely set his jaw, took a deep breath and with a quick reversal in the arch of his spine, snapped into an erect posture while throwing his shoulders back at the same time. Making a sound reminiscent of a cork popping out of a bottle InuYasha leapt forward, moving in less than an eyeblink from a decidedly uncomfortable hunched over position, courtesy of being partially embedded in the bole of a tree, to fully upright and completely free of his ligneous prison. With a loud crackling snap, prolonged moaning creak and echoing crash, the ill-fated oak slowly toppled to the ground behind him as the hanyou, arms now folded neatly into his wide red sleeves, regarded his companions with a smug "I told you so," expression on his face.

" I guess you didn't need our help after all, InuYasha," muttered the young Monk thoughtfully as he watched the newest cloud of dust and leaves slowly settle to the ground.

Paying him no mind, the half demon's yellow eyes were focused intently on the debris laden track marking the fleeing lizard youkai's hasty escape into the woods. Oh yeah, he remembered it all now, the whole damn humiliating fight.

"I'm gonna cut that bastard a new one," InuYasha muttered under his breath, took a step forward and stopped. "OW.."

Three sets of eyebrows shot up above three pairs of eyes widened in surprise as that remarkable sound issued from the mouth of a person who under normal circumstances would belligerently argue, sometimes until blue in the face, that because he was part youkai he didn't feel pain with the same intensity as they did. For the half demon to actually utter such an exclamation must mean that he was injured more severely than their initial assessment had led them to believe. Kagome of course was on him faster than a hungry flea on a juicy dog.

"What's wrong? Where are you hurt?" Her face radiating that worriedly-concerned expression, the girl positioned herself in front of InuYasha as she did a quick search for any previously unnoticed wounds.

" Would you quit that?" he snarled, a little more harshly than he meant to. " I'm fine.." He gently grabbed her wrists to get her attention, " Kagome, I'm OK...we need to go get that shard? Remember? Big lizard? Jewel shard?"

"You're sure you're alright?" Her soft brown eyes looked up into his expectantly, trusting him to answer truthfully.

Determined not to repeat what happened the last time she had asked him that question and have her get angry with him all over again, InuYasha smiled back at her. " Really, I'm not hurt. Now, let's go get that shard."

There was a tight strangled sound from somewhere behind him that he chose to ignore, preferring for the moment to concentrate on the worried girl with the lovely brown eyes. Satisfied by his reassurance, Kagome stepped to the side, a happy smile lighting her face. InuYasha took a step forward and Stopped.

"OW!" Yellow eyes round in shock, the half demon did a quick physical reevaluation. ' Crap, what's going on? ' Taking another tentative step caused the same highly unpleasant sensation to shoot right back up from his butt to a spot between his shoulder blades again. "OW !..What the fuck is going on?"

Trying to hide the growing grin of amusement that was threatening to overcome his serious expression, Miroku surveyed the hanyou's backside as Sango peeked wide-eyed over his right shoulder.

"It would seem that you have picked up quite a few uh, splinters, InuYasha," he said quietly, trying to make his voice match the innocent look on his boyish face.

"I'd say more than a few," Sango added in a strained whisper.

"What?" Craning his head back over his shoulder, InuYasha tried to see exactly what his friends were staring at but the view was effectively blocked by his thick mass of hair. When he tried to twist farther around a great many more of the nasty little sensations that had caused him to yell out in the first place shot up along his spine. "OW! Dammit!"

"Don't move, InuYasha," the Monk cautioned, "You are only making things worse for yourself."

The Demon Slayer stepped forward to get a closer look at InuYasha's problem and in doing so said the one thing sure to attract a nosy Kitsune's attention, "You kind of look like the description Kagome gave us of that odd animal from her time, a por..porcupine."

A pair of tiny pointed ears perked right up at her assessment. Tossing aside the sketchpad, which had until that moment claimed all of his attention, Shippou hurried over to inspect InuYasha's rear end himself. Positioning himself safely behind the Monk, the Kit gave the half demon a good once over before stating with more than a bit of admiration, " Wow, some of those things are huge, InuYasha."

"Shut up, Runt," growled the half demon as he tried to take another unsuccessful step forward.

" At least you don't look like that other animal she told us about," the Kitsune said pointedly, a mischievous twinkle shining in the depths of his bright green eyes. "You know, the stinky one," he glanced up at Miroku with an undisguised grin, "the skunk."

Uttering a low steady growl, the half demon tried to inch his way around to get a better look at the tiny thorn in his side." Shippou..."

There was just enough raw menace in his tone to make the Kitsune hop onto Miroku's shoulder and call out in a high pitched childish whine, " Kagome, InuYasha's being mean to me."

Kagome was already rooting through her yellow backpack on a quest to find the first-aide kit buried deep in the bottom of it. "You know we don't talk about That anymore, Shippou, " she called back over her shoulder. "We All promised it was going to remain a dead subject from now on." As her head disappeared once more into the backpack she muttered to herself, "...now where did those things get off too?"

"Let's just go," InuYasha said irritably. " If we don't hurry up, Naraku is gonna get the damn shard."

Still rummaging through her backpack, Kagome replied in a cheerful voice, " You can't go anywhere like that InuYasha. I soon as I find my tweezers we'll get you fixed right up."

Dragging his foot stubbornly forward, the hanyou took another pain laced step. "Hell no, we aren't waiting around...I'm going after that shar.."

" Sit Boy," the young woman said quietly, almost as an afterthought as she dug even deeper into the bag. Her obstinate red clad companion plummeted face down into the dirt. "Oh, look," she sat up with a victorious smile on her face. Holding up a bright, shiny pair of stainless tweezers in her right hand she announced, "Found them ! "

"Ka..Go..Me..." the sound of her name filtered out through the layer of topsoil as the young lady in question flipped InuYasha's long thick hair up over the top of his head to get a better look at his back.

Ever observant and not the least bit shy in sharing his knowledge Shippou whispered, loud enough for everyone to hear, " Well, at least he's in the right position."

Another richly ominous growl rumbled from beneath the mop of silver white hair as the half demon attempted to push himself upright. " InuYasha..." Her tone was a loud and clear warning as she pushed him right back down on his face with a well placed hand between his shoulder blades. " Don't make me say ' The Word ' again.. The sooner I get all of these out, the sooner we can go after that shard."

Kagome surveyed the damage with a critical eye. Fortunately, the mass of InuYasha's hair along with his firerat had provided his mid to upper back with a great deal more protection than had been afforded below waist level by merely his hakama alone. Over a dozen long splinters proudly waved above the bright red fabric as obvious targets of opportunity and Kagome plucked them out quickly, discarding them into a little pile by her right knee.

"You done yet?" The voice emanating from beneath the tangle of silver hair sounded mad enough to chew through a steel rod and call it a toothpick.

"No," Sitting back on her heels, Kagome chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully, tweezers poised in mid air. It was quite plain to see, from the number of tiny rents decorating the seat of InuYasha's loose trousers, that the lizard had slammed him into the tree with enough strength to force a great many of the smaller slivers of wood completely through the tough cloth and into him. In freeing himself from the oak, the half demon's dramatic movement had allowed the fabric to slip back over the splinter's exposed ends, hiding them from view.

"Well?" the hanyou's right foot began to twitch impatiently, "what's the damn hold up?"

" Uh, you, uh.." Coloring a deep shade of red, Kagome glance up at Miroku and Sango a silent plea for help in her eyes. Nodding the Monk casually walked over to stand on the opposite side of the grumbling hanyou. Picking her courage back up the girl took a deep breath, " It's just that I can't see a lot of them.."

"So??"

"You're going to have to..uh," she snatched another deep breath, " drop your pants?"

Miroku made it almost to a count of three before the verbal explosion broke across the silence of the little forest glade.

"Oh, Like Hell I Am Wench!..." It was not an entirely unexpected reaction.

" But some of them are under the tears in the cloth..." She really was trying to sound reasonable.

" I ain't dropping my pants for nobody!" Of course no one really expected him to listen to reason.

" ...and the only way I'm going to be able to see them...." A hint of irritation at his complete lack of regard for his own well being curled around the edges of her still reasonable voice.

" Let me the hell up from here..." InuYasha pushed himself to his hands and knees with a poorly disguised groan.

"...is if you grow a brain cell and cooperate.." taking advantage of his position, Kagome snatched loose the tie at his waist, "....Sit Boy!"

Dust once again began to settle around the prostrate half demon.

" So, what's it going to be? We can do this the easy way, or the hard way, InuYasha," her reasonable tone of voice had left the proverbial building, " But your pants are coming down now, Mister and I'm not taking No for an answer!"

The expression on Miroku's face was priceless.

Plopping down in the dirt across from Kagome he managed to say with an admirably straight face, "Now, Sango. I didn't say a word." His cheek still blossomed red in conjunction with a loud smack as the Demon Slayer walked past him.

" But I know what you were thinking," she snorted. "Come on Shippou, let's go gather up some fire wood and get lunch started.."

" Yeah," the Kitsune replied as he tagged along at her heels, " I'm just a little kid..I don't need to see this kind of stuff."

It took a more than a few thinly veiled and blatantly unveiled threats, persistent tugs and the solemn promise of a six month supply of Ramen to finally convince InuYasha to slide his pants down far enough to provide Kagome with a clear view of his backside. The reality was much worse than she thought it was going to be. Extending from just below the waist to the backs of his upper thighs, the half demon was liberally peppered with an array of splinters ranging in size from one inch up to three.

The Monk shook his head ruefully at the sight. "It is fortunate you landed cheeks first, my friend. Your head, hard though it may be, may not have survived this," he said amiably,trying to lighten the mood. A deep growling sound alerted him to the fact that there were after all more congenial places to be and he quickly excused himself to go over and sit by the fire with Sango, Shippou and Kiara.

After readying her first aide kit, Kagome settled back for what was going to probably be a long afternoon. InuYasha lay silent, his face completely hidden behind a curtain of thick hair. Even his twitchy foot was now still and it seemed to Kagome that he had just somehow given up in subdued resignation after finding himself basically helpless under the combined bullying of both her and Miroku.

"I'm sorry InuYasha," she said softly.

"For what?" For once this afternoon his voice was quiet.

" I know this is embarrassing for you. If there were any other way..."she sighed heavily, "but this really is the only way I can see them all. There's just so ..many."

"It's OK," he replied before repositioning his head on folded arms, privately thankful that because of his hair no one could see the red stain of total discomfiture burning across his cheeks. "Just get on with it." As much as he secretly enjoyed her fussing over him when he was injured, this time held no pleasure for him at all.

Nodding, Kagome began extracting the first of many slivers of wood.

" Uh, Kagome?" he used the same quiet voice but this time it was almost timid as well.

She leaned forward, bending down close to where she thought his face might be behind the silver colored tangles, " Yes, InuYasha?"

" I don't mind the cream stuff, but," after having another shitty day in his monumentally shitty life he really didn't want to piss her off or offend her yet again, so he asked with uncharacteristic politeness, " could you please not use those sticky little bandages?"

"The band-aides?"

" They'll make my butt itch.."

" Oh," Kagome chuckled, picked up the box of band-aides and tossed it back into her first-aide kit." I promise not to use them, InuYasha." Turning back to the almost daunting task in front of her, she began pulling out splinters in earnest. "Two.....three.....four.....five....."

InuYasha cleared his throat. " Do you have to count each and every one?"

With a slight start, she giggled a little nervously, " Oh. No, sorry, InuYasha."

Returning to her task she began adding to the growing pile beside her right knee. The half demon only sighed and flattened his ears next to his head as they picked up the sound of her nearly silent whispering," ...six...seven....eight....nine..."


	9. Chapter 9

**As you shall see, the last chapter wasn't some wild lizard chase...actually this one is, but that's beside the point. Everything will come together in the end, the end just doesn't happen to be this chapter.**

**My thanks once more to the talents of Rumiko Takahashi who brought InuYasha and his world to life. She owns them, not I. She makes the money..I am only here for the fun of it.**

**Cu' is mine.**

**Pocky is not mine..I don't make any money off of it either.**

**WindMiko thank you for your kind and continued support..... bows**

**For all of you gentle readers, I hope you find enjoyment here today...**

Chapter Ten

" I don't think a low level youkai like this one will have gone very far," Sango settled Hiraikotsu comfortably over her right shoulder, keen eyes narrowing she assessed the broad path left by the huge lizard they had been fighting earlier. Twisted saplings, stripped naked of their leaves by the rapid passage of a large scaly body, poked out of a well-tossed debris salad made up of mangled bushes and crushed undergrowth most of which lay half buried under chunky clots of moist earth turned up by the creature's long claws during it's wild dash to escape. " It didn't even seem bright enough to realize how much more powerful having a Jewel shard makes it."

" Yeah, if we're lucky the bastard stopped to take a shi.." A pair of brown eyes shot him a warning 'watch your mouth in front of the small child' look from over the top of their owner's yellow backpack, "....nap as soon as it lost our scent." Arms folded across his chest, InuYasha spun around to stare off in the same direction as Sango, right foot tapping out a steady rhythm of impatience signaling his intrinsic need to be on the move and actively doing something productive.

In his mind productive was doing things like finding another Jewel shard, or killing Naraku or both. Both would be good, in fact both would be a perfect way to make-up for this whole damn waste of a day. However, if that uncooperative bastard Naraku didn't plan on being polite enough to show up for the takedown, InuYasha reasoned, then brutally eradicating that big stupid lizard who had slung him into a tree, causing an afternoon full of painful embarrassment, would soothe his bruised ego quite nicely.

" Well, the campfire is all taken care of." Accompanied by a cheerful metallic jingling of the brass rings dangling from the head of his staff, Miroku walked casually over to stand next to Sango. Giving the pair a cursory glance, InuYasha rolled his eyes as he caught sight of the fingers on Miroku's free hand start to quiver under the impulse of a strange tic, which only seemed to be entirely beyond the innocent looking monk's conscious control. Apparently under the guidance of an evil little mind all their own, his long fingers wiggled in a hypnotically pulsating motion, flexed once then stretched out to hover ever so closely in the vicinity of the Demonslayer's left buttock.

" When she knocks the shit out of you, you're stayin' wherever you fall, Bouzo. We've wasted enough time today without you windin' up out cold," InuYasha whispered under his breath, just loud enough for Miroku's ears alone to get the message, " Your damned hand might be cursed but don't you at least have a little control over the arm it's hangin' off of ?"

Already in possession of a matched set of overly rosy cheeks, the monk weighed the fleeting merits of adding an even rosier lump on the head to his present list of injuries which had been incurred while making more than one grab for Sango's righteously protected goods during lunch. Sighing heavily and calling up what appeared to be no small amount of effort, the monk pulled the wayward arm back to his side and clenched the lustful hand firmly behind his back. Schooling his face into an expression of boyish innocence he merely smiled as the object of his affection glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. Sango shifted her boomerang around on her shoulder, just enough to let him know that she was ready should either one of Miroku's hands decide to get out of hand.

" Oi, Kagome, what's the hold up? Ain't you packed yet?" Impatience was as evident in his voice as in the beat of his still tapping foot. Whirling to face the girl, a scowl accentuating the arch of his dark eyebrows, InuYasha stomped over to where Kagome was sitting back on her heels as she fastened up the buckles on her bulky knapsack.

"All done," she replied cheerfully. Getting to her feet the girl prepared to hoist the unwieldy bag into position, " But I really need to go home for supplies soon. We ate the last of the food I brought back with me for lunch."

"No more Ninja snacks, Kagome?" Wearing the wide-eyed look only successfully managed by a small child suddenly faced with the loss of a favorite treat, Shippou gazed up at her the hint of a dewy tear shining in his eye and a trembling motion slightly vibrating along his lower lip. He was already mourning the fact that her announcement probably meant she was all out of Pocky too.

"Sorry, Shippou, it's all gone..." Shaking her head in commiseration, Kagome began to swing the still heavily loaded backpack up over her shoulder then gave out a slight squawk of surprise as she realized it had suddenly vanished right out of her hands.

Neatly relieving her of the dumpy yellow burden before she could settle it into place, InuYasha stood behind her holding up the misshapen knapsack with one clawed fist. "Whadda you mean we ate the last?" He dangled the pack by it's wide canvas straps, testing the weight of the lumpy bag speculatively.

" I mean, InuYasha that there is no more food in there, those two extra bowls of Ramen you insisted on having for lunch wiped us out." Kagome made a swipe at the pack to regain possession, but the dog eared boy merely lifted it easily out of her reach.

" So there's nothing important in this thing then?" Tongue in cheek he watched her dance and grab at the rumpled prize.

" My books are impor...." Like a big yellow bird the pack went arcing silently through the air to land in a small cloud of dust next to her bike. " Hey!...I need.." A pair of strong arms lifted Kagome up, swinging her easily around to land astride the already moving hanyou's back. "....those.."

Taking the half demon's unspoken cue and knowing that once InuYasha started running he wasn't likely to stop until he was within sight of their target, Sango, Shippou and Miroku hastily mounted Kirara and the Firecat took to the sky.

" Leave it, we can get it on the way back," InuYasha glanced over his left shoulder at the startled girl.

" But..what about my bike?" She tried to twist around to get a farewell glimpse at her suddenly abandoned possessions lying in the dirt next to the remains of their well doused campfire.

InuYasha bounded up in the air taking a long leap that set him down in the middle of the lizard's track, " You can't ride that contraption through here." He took off at a ground eating run, long silver hair blowing back over his still gaping passenger.

" INU..." Ouch, she was already winding up for the kill, "YASH.."

Using a fallen log for a springboard, the half demon's feet left the ground as he soared into another huge leap that brought him up to tree top level in an instant, the abrupt change in altitude causing the girl to shriek her surprise out loudly next to his ear instead of finishing her dreaded sentence.

"Don't say it Kagome, the grounds a long way down for the both of us."

She could hear the chuckle in his voice, flowing back to her on the wind. " You big jerk, you just left all of my stuff back there," the anger in her tone held the mute promise of a bountiful helping of "SitSitSitSit" the moment his feet touched back down for good.

" As soon as we grab the shard off that lizard, I promise to go back and get them," Maybe the offer of a compromise would be enough to keep him out of a deep hole in the dirt later, after all a guy could only stomach so much earthworm shit between his teeth in one day. He wasn't stupid after all...he was learning...she seemed to trust him to keep his promises.

Lacing her arms around his neck, Kagome leaned in close to his left ear, " You mean it?"

" Yep, I mean it." He heard her utter a satisfied sigh as she settled into a more comfortable position. InuYasha smiled to himself and wished he could keep running on with her like this forever.

"InuYasha?" No trace of anger remained in her soft voice. Craning her head back up from where it had been resting on his shoulder she asked hesitantly, " Carrying me like this isn't hurting you is it?"

" Feh," He took another breathtaking leap to top the crown of a large maple which their quarry had been forced to skirt rather than blindly mow down, " I told you, I'd be healed up before lunch was over. Takes more than a couple of little pieces of wood..."

"...fifty seven.."she whispered.

" Oi, wench, I know exactly how many there were," he glanced over his shoulder at her, " heard you count out each and every damned one...."

"Oh.."

It was a sadly pensive little 'Oh', that immediately made him fell guilty for not just keeping his big mouth shut. What did it matter if she had counted them or not, at least she hadn't snickered even once while doing it. Oh yeah, the rest of them had tried to hide their stupid grins, stifling chuckles behind their hands as they sat beside the fire with their backs to him during the whole sorry operation.

All except for Shippou. That sneaky-ass fox had been the only one who kept peeking back at him, trying to covertly study what was none of his fuckin' business with those bright green eyes that never missed a trick. Busily guiding those blasted crayon things as he did so across more than one page in that equally damned pad of drawing paper he was so fond of, it was a pretty safe bet that the Kitsune had sketched his unique version of the whole incident....multiple times. Shippou wasn't one to let a ripe opportunity like that pass him by. He'd record it in brilliant color, not only for posterity but to show to anyone with a pair of working eyes once they got back to Kaede Baba's village, which meant the whole damned village.

InuYasha stifled a snicker of his own, he had ditched Kagome's pack for more than just the sake of expediting the search for the shard. Yeah, there was definitely one thing that wasn't going to make it back when he went after Kagome's pack and to keep from being Sat, he was already busy formulating excuses.

' Damn, I nearly lost the whole pack when I jumped the river, learn how to stow your things away better, Runt.' His shoulders shook with a silent chuckle. ' Sorry Runt, it slipped right out of the pack when I dodged around that Oni who wanted to give me grief on my way back...' Another bigger chuckle. ' Ugly bastard shit all over it before I could get it back from him. Oni's don't know nothin' about art noway.' More shaking, this time accompanied with an outright guffaw. That excuse might get him the S-Word but the look on the kit's face when he heard his drawing pad had been reduced to little more than used toilet paper, would be worth it.

" What's so funny? What are you laughing at?" Kagome was leaning back up, talking in his ear.

'Oh, Shit, need to be a little more careful..' " Uh, Nothing...." 'Change the subject...change the subject...Think quick asshole...Change the fuckin' subject.' Soaring up to the top of another tree, he shot what he hoped was an innocent look back at her before plunging ground-ward in a free-fall dive made to take the girl's attention off of his sudden bout of unexplained mirth.

"Uh, Kagome.."

" Yes, InuYasha?" Her arms tightened reflexively and she hugged him closer as he neatly pushed off from a low-hanging branch to hurtle upwards into another well controled leap toward the crown of the next tree.

He didn't care if his backside did still smart a little, it was worth having Kagome this close to him. 'Hey ! Don't forget to change the subject. She hasn't forgotten that you were finding something she wasn't in on pretty damned hilarious.'

" Kagome, thank you for not laughing..you know...earlier.."

" Oh, InuYasha, it wasn't your fault. I couldn't make fun about something like that." Her voice was sweet and sincere as she gave him a little squeeze of a hug. " You know I would never laugh at you, especially for something you had no way of preventing."

" Next time I'll try to land in a bush, Ok? Then you'll just have to pick a few leaves outta my hair."

" Leaves would be a lot easier than splinters," Kagome replied happily giving him another hug.

' Yay, it worked.....'

" Now, just what were you finding so funny?"

' ….Shit, it didn't...does she have to have a one track mind all the time? '

" InuYasha? There's something going on up ahead," Sango called out from above. Since Kirara had been flying consistently above the treetops her passengers had an overall better view than the pair fluctuating between the trees and the ground below. Gracefully the Firecat made a quick decent, landing without incident in the center of the recently carved trail. InuYasha skidded to a stop beside her.

"There's definitely a shard near here," Kagome said quickly, before anyone could ask. "It doesn't seem to be moving either."

" What did you see?" The hanyou already had his nose up, checking the air currents for scents. Beside the normal sylvan smells enhanced by those of recently crushed and broken vegetation and freshly upturned earth, a rank reptilian odor permeated the whole area. He blinked in surprise for there was another scent lightly entwined with the ones he expected that made his nostrils flare in response to it. Some strange note in that scent pinged against a distant and long forgotten memory which in turn sent back the message to his conscious mind that it was familiar.

" Our lizard is just up ahead," Sango replied as she slipped lightly down from Kirara's back. "It's stopped in a meadow just beyond the edge of the forest, maybe a hundred and twenty feet from here."

There was the sharp and distinctive sound of knuckles cracking in gleeful anticipation.

"Well, lets go get that shard then," A rather devilish gleam lit the half demon's eyes as he envisioned smoldering lizard innards flying out in several wide and colorful arcs across the landscape.

Before InuYasha could turn around to sprint off down the path with Kagome still clinging to his back, Sango spoke up, " InuYasha, you need to know there is another Youkai with it. We couldn't get a very clear look, because the lizard kept getting in the way, but from what we could see it doesn't appear to be a lower youkai at all."

"Yes, InuYasha. This may be a time to employ a certain amount of caution," Dismounting Kirara, the monk came over to stand next to the demonslayer, one hand firmly gripping his staff, the other massaging his left cheek, which somehow looked a great deal redder than the last time InuYasha had seen it.

"You're a fine one to be preaching to me about caution, Bouzo.." Snorted the hanyou, his yellow eyes purposely fastened on the the spot Miroku was rubbing so assiduously .

"She almost knocked him off Kirara this time," the peanut gallery still perched safely atop the Firecat chimed in. "I thought he was a goner for sure."

Clearing his throat a bit loudly Miroku continued, trying to assume both a saintly and put-upon look at the same time. " InuYasha, we do not know what this other Youkai may be capable of. From what we could make out, this one appears to be a high Youkai and could well be as powerful as your brother."

" Feh, I ain't afraid of Sesshoumaru and I sure as hell ain't afraid of this one either. Besides, the only youkai aura I'm sensing at the moment is the stink rolling off that lizard."

"I am very surprised that you of all people can sense nothing more than the lizard, InuYasha," Miroku said with unfeigned surprise. "Whoever it is that we saw in the meadow has a very powerful aura indeed."

"Maybe it would be better if we didn't rush right in," Kagome added, hoping for once that the impulsive hanyou would curb that innate tendency which seemed to frequently dictate his actions by impelling him to jump in first with sword swinging and ask questions of the quivering leftover chunks after the dust had settled.

There was already a belligerent gleam burning deep in his yellow eyes, which unfortunately, from her position, she couldn't see. Silently the others took uneasy note of it though, with each of them knowing that it clearly showed that InuYasha was itching for a fight, any fight, with anybody, the bloodier, the messier, the better.

" Why? If we sit around here with our thumbs up our asses,we're gonna loose that shard..." He smirked at her over his shoulder. Not the good-natured 'I'm cute and you know it' smirk but the nasty, 'I know it all and you don't know shit' smirk, the one that just naturally made her jaw clench as she fought down a little red eyed demon of her own.

" Thank you Mr. Tasteful for that colorful description..." She took a deep breath and mentally began to count to ten. 'He's already gotten hurt once today..I will not get mad..I will not...'

" Well, you can always just shoot him and purify his ass, Ka..Go..Me." Now he was using THAT voice, the one that went with THAT smirk.

"That isn't going to happen anytime soon.." The mental countdown aborted at four and opened the door to make an exit hand in hand with her good intentions. Kagome's right eyelid twitched, she really was going to try counting again.

"Oh yeah? Why not? Forget how to shoot your fuckin bow?" He not only smirked, but added an irritating little snicker to it.

" NO! Because some JERK made Me leave it behind. It was laying over next to my bike You big IDIOT!"

Up this close he swore he could jets of steam coming out of not only her flared nostrils but her left ear as well. Did he choose to keep his mouth shut at the sight of a small fire-breathing dragon glaring back at him over his left shoulder ? Does Sus Domestica possess wings?

"Why didn't you say something earlier, Wench?" A very deep inhalation, sounding remarkably like the lizard's low hiss, sounded close to his left ear. It wasn't a good sound, not coming from Kagome. Oops... That was the wrong question to ask, as well as the wrong way to ask it. By this time he was already pretty close to figuring out that maybe his real mistake was in uttering the whole 'thumbs up our asses' statement in the first place, but it was too late now to take it all back.

Kagome's flashing brown eyes sparkling with undisguised anger met his. At the moment nothing was hidden from him within their depths, he could read her thoughts plainly and they were very simple. They solely consisted of, at most, two very short words repeated over and over and over. Tightening his grip on her thighs InuYasha did the only thing an endangered hanyou thinking of self preservation was capable of doing under the circumstances, he jumped straight up into the air.

"Don't forget where you are Kagome.." He hit the ground and immediately leapt up again.

"Put me down, this isn't going to save you!" Kagome screeched back at the nearest flattened white furred ear.

"Can't we talk about this?" Like a red and silver ball, InuYasha bounced right off the ground.

"You've already said enough to put yourself in a ten foot hole, care to try for fifteen?" Her voice was getting louder.

"That's exactly what I'm trying to avoid Wench." Up..down..up..down..

"I wonder how long he can keep doing that?" Sango asked, her eyes following the yelling blur of red , silver, black and green as it careened in bounding leaps back and forth along the width of the trial.

"Until he collapses from exhaustion or she looses her voice," murmured Miroku, his eyes following the same pattern as Sango's. " It is amazing how hard some people will work at vainly trying to stave off the inevitable."

"Kagome's still going to absolutely 'kill' him when he finally stops." Shaking her head Sango spared a quick glance in Miroku's direction to check on exactly how his hands were occupied at the moment.

Shippou's bright green eyes were also watching the bouncing hanyou with interest.

"And when she does," He said dryly and without the least bit of sympathy for the half demon, " he's just going to die tired.." The Kitsune could hardly wait to sketch a picture of this to go with all the others in his collection but in leaving the backpack behind, InuYasha had temporarily deprived the kit of his drawing supplies. "Idiot, I hope you tire out soon," he muttered under his breath.

"To hell with this," InuYasha said suddenly, " We need to go get that shard, Kagome." Abruptly reversing direction he started running along the trail toward the opening where the lizard's path broke through the tree line into the broad clearing beyond.

When the rest of the group caught up with them, the now silent pair was standing at the edge of the forest gazing out over the meadow, their argument forgotten. Kagome had slid off InuYasha's back and was quietly standing next to him. It was much to Shippou's disappointment that the hanyou was still upright and not partially buried in a respectable sized Kagome induced hole.

What was taking place in the clearing arrested everyone's attention. The lizard was indeed there, it's heavily scaled body a massive mock sunset of yellow and orange stretched out upon the cool, deep green meadow grass. The creature's enormous sharp-snouted head, pivoting from side to side atop a thick muscular neck was facing a much smaller figure standing directly in it's path. Seemingly entranced, the waylaid reptile was directing all of it's attention toward what appeared to be a very tall, slenderly built young man with long dark silver hair, clad in a strangely cut outfit in various shades of gray and white. He was carrying on what appeared to be quite an animated conversation with the lizard, seeming to understand perfectly whatever it was trying to convey with head bobs, tongue flicks and low throaty hisses.

"Is he a Youkai? "Sango asked softly.

" I no longer feel any kind of aura coming from him," Miroku whispered back.

"Feh, you feel no aura cause he doesn't have one," InuYasha was eying the man intently, unsure of why there was something so familiar about this total stranger. "I told you the only youkai here is that overgrown bug-eater."

"Still we shouldn't just run out there, at least not until we have some idea of exactly what he is," Kagome tugged on the hanyou's wide red sleeve, " What if he's only masking his aura in some way...Like Naraku does?"

InuYasha nodded back at her as he considered this as a possibility. From what he could see the young man just couldn't be simply a human but, the half demon was fairly certain that the stranger wasn't Youkai either. Aura or not, there was something too otherworldly about him, something that belied any known concept of mortality at all.

" You don't think he's gonna get eaten do you, InuYasha?" the Kitsune asked in a nervous little voice.

"Somehow I don't think he has to worry about that, Shippou," He glanced down to see the child standing next to him, a look of worry creasing the fox-boy's small face. Reaching down InuYasha offered the kit a hand, then swung him up to perch on his left shoulder. " If those two got into a fight, I think the lizard would lose."

"Really?" A pair of huge round eyes gazed expectantly at him.

" Yeah.."

Suddenly the lizard bobbed it's head rapidly up and down, as if happily agreeing with some amiable suggestion then laid it down to rest in the grass near the stranger's feet. The gray clad man hopped up to land lightly upon the long snout, took several strides forward then bent down to remove something lodged between the lizard's red bulbous eyes. Jumping back into the grass he smiled as the creature rapidly dwindled in size until it's sun colored body was no longer than the palm of his hand. Giving a faint hiss of farewell, it scurried away and disappeared into the tall grass, leaving the young man to inspect what he held loosely between his fingers. Holding the object up between thumb and index finger to inspect it in the light, he laughed, shook his head in obvious amusement, tucked it neatly away in a tiny pocket by the waistband of his long-skirted, sleeveless coat then turned and began walking purposefully toward the far side of the clearing.

There was that strangely inevitable moment of silence before InuYasha said the one thing everyone in the group expected him to say, "That Bastard took our shard."


	10. Chapter 10

**Once again I offer the disclaimer that Rumiko Takahashi owns InuYasha. I am only respectfully borrowing him and his friends in the telling of this story which will provide me with no monetary compensation what so ever.**

**Having a couple of twelve hour shifts coming up this weekend, I will be unable to get the next chapter out before Monday so please don't give up on me those of you who have followed this little tale so far.**

**Again thank you WindMiko, especially for your very sharp eye in catching my faux pas. Cu' has already smacked the spell checker with a flower for misbehaving in so dubious a fashion.**

Chapter Eleven

" HEY! Come back here you asshole, that's our shard !" None of his friends would ever verbalize the accusation that InuYasha was shy or retiring when it came to recovering a Jewel shard.

" Did you hear me you bastard?..." His right hand, already firmly gripping the hilt of Tetsusaiga, was ready to free the Fang from it's sheath as he took a bold step into the clearing. " Get your ass back he...."

Latching on to him as tightly as a cluster of Naraku's tentacles, four pairs of hands belonging to the rationally thinking members of his party reached out and quickly grabbed the angry hanyou then yanked him backward into the shadows cast by the sheltering trees. In a flurry of dust and dry leaves, they actually managed to pull the protesting half demon to the ground, although this feat may not have been accomplished at all if the forgotten kitsune hadn't thought to grab a double handful of furry ear before leaping off his perch on InuYasha's shoulder. With a loud yelp snatched out of him by the unexpected dragging pull and sudden onset of pain to the left side of his head, InuYasha collapsed under the tugging onslaught into a cursing red heap at their feet.

" Dammit...dammit,dammit,dammit! What the fuck do you people thi.."

A loud 'KerThwack' announced to anything within earshot that the business end of Miroku's staff had smacked the foul mouthed hanyou quite smartly over the head. There was an abrupt halt to the salty verbal tirade as it's stunned perpetrator lay back to contemplate the residual sound of cheerfully jangling metal ringing in his ears and the magnificent array of diurnal stars twinkling before his eyes.

"Patience, my friend," As usual in such situations, the monk's tone was one of impeccable propriety. He gave InuYasha's head another brisk tap to ensure he commanded the hanyou's full attention. "We really must think about this before just rushing in.."

Growling the abused party reached up to clutch his aching head in both hands...

"...to pick a fight that very may very well.."

….and sat up with a groan. A pair of unfocused slitted yellow eyes drifted toward the general direction the monk's voice was coming from...

"...wind up with us receiving our..."

...as he fell backwards with another pitifully louder groan. "Why?"

" Gee Miroku," Shippou peered at the cross-eyed half demon sprawled out in front of him, " that left a mark... you musta really hit him hard."

" Hmm," the monk leaned over to get a better look at his semiconscious victim then held up a hand, " Uh, how many fingers do you see, InuYasha?"

A rough little whisper came up from the figure stretched out on the ground, "I hate you ..."

There was a strangely harmonious mix of familiar voices distantly spinning around in InuYasha's head.... " Is he alright? Miroku, just how hard did you hit him?...." " You think his eyes are gonna stay like that?...." "InuYasha? Say something to me..." "Well, I only wanted him to stop and listen.." " Boy, sure wish I had my crayons right now..." " He'll be alright Kagome, I don't think Miroku could hit hard enough to really hurt him..." "InuYasha? Can you ear me? InuYasha? InuYasha?......."

The warm brown eyes he found himself gazing up into were, for him, absolutely breathtaking. So was the face surrounding them. Before that conflicted persona which ruled his waking mind had a chance to completely regain possession of his tongue, the subconscious InuYasha opened his mouth.

" You're beautiful....Kagome...I lo......" Conflicted InuYasha stilled him as yellow eyes widened in shocked realization of just what he was about to confess.

' Oh, shit, what are you saying? StopStopStopStop...You can't tell her that ...You love Kikyou..No, I don't....I love Kagome....I love them both...' InuYasha squeezed his eyes shut and slowly rolled into a sitting position..' Oh shit, what hit me?...I love...'

" InuYasha are you Ok?" Once again it was the call of her gentle voice that brought clarity to his sense of confusion, her small soft hand caressing his cheek that grounded him firmly into reality.

" Kagome..." Tightly clutching his throbbing forehead in his left hand, InuYasha folded his legs beneath him, weakly swatted at the hovering young woman to keep her out of his face and cast an irate glare up at the monk who stood regarding him with a mixed look of sympathy and wry amusement. "Why in the hell did you hit me like that, Miroku? Trying to kill me?"

" I do apologize InuYasha. Perhaps that second blow was a bit..excessive...Still, it did prevent you from charging out and possibly making a very big mistake." Miroku crouched down to look the scowling half demon in the eye, "Until we know more about the person we just saw it is better to operate on the near side of caution rather than," he glanced over at the girl kneeling next to him, " Lady Kagome, what was that saying again?"

" Have your ass handed back to you on a silver platter," she replied, directing a pointed look at the recalcitrant hanyou who only gave throat to an unmistakably disgruntled growl in reply.

Sitting back on her heels, Kagome silently nursed a bruise to her pride. In typical InuYasha fashion, the half demon's unpredictable reactions had disconcerted the girl again, taking her from the rush of a heart fluttering compliment to feeling like she was some inconvenient obstacle blocking his way. Looking directly into her eyes he had told her she was beautiful then sat up and rudely pushed her aside. ' He didn't really mean to say that....it was only the knock on the head talking...who am I fooling? He's nothing but an insensitive...infuriating....jerk..' Like an extinguished gas jet popping back into fiery life at the touch of a lit match, Kagome's anger at him reignited as the farewell image of her recently abandoned belongings crossed her mind.

In the true spirit of rubbing a generous handful of salt into a still bleeding wound, Shippou peeped over at InuYasha from the comfortably remote safety of Sango's arms before tossing out his opinion on the current topic of conversation, "What's so unusual about something like that? The Idiot gets it handed back to him all the time."

" Just wait,Shippou. I'll show you ass on a platter...." Straightening up the half demon fixed his tiny tormenter with a baleful glare, "Just what was the big idea trying to tear my ear off, Runt?" Flexing his claws, he began to rise to his feet, eyes focused on the face of the rapidly paling kit, but was stopped half way by the unsubtle hint of an painful promise in the tone of Kagome's voice.

" InuYasha..."

'Oh,yeah..almost forgot, she's still mad at me.'

A chill wind aimed directly and only at him blew in from the south. There was no mistaking that the proverbial ice was dangerously thin and like a fool he was fixing to go skating. Easing back into a sitting position, InuYasha placed his splay-fingered hands down in the dirt in front of him, thankful to be, for once, close to the ground. Staring straight ahead the half demon attempted to compose his mouth into an agreeable smile, in hopes that it would somehow mitigate Kagome's formidable wrath, but only managed to achieve a fairly pained looking grimace instead. Of course his expression had quite a different effect than intended and he glanced around to see his friends looking back at him a bit uneasily.

Taking the initiative the monk spoke up," It is good that you have finally decided to listen to reason, InuYasha..."

" Like I have much of a choice." Leaning away from Miroku and propping his dirt besmudged chin atop an equally grimy left fist, the hanyou switched from an expression reminiscent of someone trying to ignore an intimately placed hot poker to one of bitterly frustrated boredom. He might not be that great at smiling, but this was a look he could manage to pull off quite well.

Politely ignoring the grumbled interruption, Miroku continued, " Who ever this being is, he possesses the ability to mask a very powerful aura. That he was doing so with both you and Kagome.."

The girl gave a quick nod of agreement.

"....is fairly obvious since the rest of us plainly felt it on our way here."

" Which doesn't change the fact that the bastard just left with our shard..."

" Another reason to exercise caution, my impatient friend. He did not have to fight, nor did he have to kill the lizard to obtain that shard, he was allowed to take it. InuYasha, when is the last time you walked up a youkai, asked it to hand over a jewel shard and had it given to you willingly?"

Simply because he was too stubborn to let any of them know they were probably justified in stopping him from rushing headlong into a fight, InuYasha merely grunted a surly acknowledgment to Miroku's argument.

Satisfied that the half demon was at last in agreement with the rest of the group, Miroku stood up. "I think we can safely guess that at least this is not one of Naraku's offspring since he just didn't kill the lizard and take what he wanted."

" I think you're right Miroku," Sango sat the kit upon Kirara's back then reshouldered her huge boomerang, "I've never known any of Naraku's minions to be terribly diplomatic when dealing with lower level youkai."

" Or tell them jokes," Kagome added as she got to her feet and walked over to stand next to Sango. " I mean, that's what it looked like he was doing. Didn't that lizard look like it was laughing to you guys too?"

Miroku scratched the side of his head speculatively, " I guess you could interpret the youkai's response that way.."

"I think Kagome's right," Shippou was bouncing between the firecat's broad head and back to attract attention to himself, " I think it was laughing too." Launching himself into the air the kit sprung lightly into the girl's arms, gazed up at her with wide innocent green eyes and asked, "Wonder what that guy was saying that was so funny?"

"I don't know," she replied, " but the lizard really did seem happy to get rid of the shard."

"Feh, you people are so full of....it.." InuYasha sprang to his feet, settled his sword next to his left hip and began to stalk back in the direction they had come from.

"Where are you going, InuYasha?" Kagome, took a tentative step toward him a puzzled expression on her face.

" I'm going to get your stuff," he didn't bother to turn around and look at her, "While all of you stand around trying to decide how funny this all is, I'm gonna do something useful with my time.." His figured blurred into a smear of red as the half demon left the ground for the trees.

"You don't have to do that right now." Her anger forgotten at the sight of the hanyou's retreating back, Kagome took a few more hesitant steps after him. "InuYasha, we can get that stuff later.."

InuYasha briefly turned his head back to give her a brusque reply, " Plan on throwin' your arrows Wench?" Before she had time to give voice to a fitting response he had leapt silently into the trees and was gone.

" What's he so mad about?" the Kitsune asked, already well aware of the answer to his patently obvious question. That Kagome's knapsack would be on the way back shortly, made him very happy because that meant his precious crayons would soon be firmly back in his talented little hands. Oh, but he had big plans to recreate some of the latest scenes in the unfortunate hanyou's piss poor day as colorful additions to the growing catalog already in his possession.

In reality he didn't dislike the hanyou at all, far from it. InuYasha's presence truly made him feel safe and protected, but it was just so much fun teasing his hot tempered friend that Shippou really couldn't control himself at times. After all he was a Kitsune whose integral fox nature was that of an unabashed trickster. He could no more leave the Inu-hanyou in peace than the half demon could ignore his inborn drive to aggressively protect the ones he cared about. Both of them frequently behaved in ways solely dictated by their very genes, much to the mystification of their human friends who couldn't quite seem to grasp the exact reasons why the two insisted on acting in the same ways over and over again.

"Shippou, when InuYasha comes back, try not to do anything to upset him," Kagome said quietly. "I'm afraid he hasn't had a very good day and none of us have helped make it any easier for him."

"If he wouldn't act like such a big idiot.." An astute listener would have picked up on the jealous nuance tinting the kit's childlike voice. Nestling into the arms of the girl he adored the fox-boy knew Kagome could never feel for him the same way she felt for the naive hanyou. Sometimes though he thought that she was almost as clueless as InuYasha....

' Naa, forget that, InuYasha owns that title like Naraku owns Exceptionally Evil Bastard '

...since it was apparent to even one as young as himself that the pair loved each other quite deeply. Yes, Shippou could see it. Sango, Miroku and Kirara could easily see it too and Granny Kaede...

' Does anybody not see it? Well, yeah...Koga, but for a Wolf Youkai he sure isn't the brightest crayon in the box...all his brains are below his knees '

They definitely loved each other and while one was probably too stubborn to recognize exactly what was going on, the other was too stupid to ever admit to anything. Of course in light of his affections it was not surprising that Shippou never saw Kagome as the stupid member in that particular relationship.

' Boy, they sure do fight a lot though. I'm surprised dog-boy has only eaten dirt twice so far today'

Their fights were like sudden summer thunderstorms, building up quickly, crackling with energy and overshadowing everything else in the immediate vicinity. That they frequently ended with a rapid succession of lightning strikes....'Sit Sit Sit'....followed by the crashing thunder of a certain person's body plummeting repeatedly into the ground was...

' after all I'm only a little kid. I have to find some kind of entertainment in all of this adult stuff '

....absolutely hilarious.

Reaching up, Shippou patted Kagome's cheek with his tiny hand and was rewarded with one of the girl's beautiful smiles. "I love you Kagome," the kit said sweetly, his green eyes sparkling in pleasure at the thought that, unlike InuYasha, he could always make her smile so easily.

"I love you too Shippou." She gave him a little squeeze of a hug which made him sigh in contentment.

'Take that moron..'

He wasn't of course referring to Kagome.

" So, it's settled then. While InuYasha is gone, we'll scout ahead and see if we can find out anything about this new Youkai," the monk's even voice brought Shippou back up out of his musings and the kit's ears pricked up to see what he had missed.

" Yes, I think it would be better if we took a look around without having to worry about InuYasha deciding to rush right in," Sango glanced over at Kagome, "Has the shard moved any farther away?"

Shaking her head the girl gave the Kitsune another small hug. " It's very close to here, I don't think he went too far into the woods on the other side of this clearing at all." She shifted nervously from foot to foot, "I just really don't feel right about going off before InuYasha comes back.."

"Ah, Lady Kagome, I understand your trepidation but with luck, we will have a much clearer idea of how to proceed by the time he returns," Miroku reassured her, his dark eyes twinkling goodnaturedly. "None of us want him to rush off and suffer any more needless injury today if it can at all be helped."

" I'm going to take a look from the air," Sango said as she swung herself onto Kirara's broad back. The pair soared aloft, flying well above the tree tops as Sango scouted the area ahead of them for any sign of the gray clad man. After a few minutes they returned, the demonslayer shaking her head as she slid lightly to the ground.

"What did you see?" Kagome asked, a little dismayed by the unhappy expression on the other girl's face.

"Not a whole lot. The canopy on the other side is too thick, although I could see a fairly wide stream cutting through the trees just to the northwest of here."

"That's in the same direction that I'm detecting the shard." Kagome announced, pointing to a noticeable gap in the treeline on the opposite side of the small meadow.

" After you Ladies," Miroku beamed innocently at his lovely companions, his face a picture of virtuous respectability.

"Not on your life, Miroku," Sango could at times growl almost as effectively as InuYasha. "We'll both follow you."

With a sigh at having his simple pleasures subverted once again, the genial monk started across the clearing, staff jangling softly with every step. " As you wish my beautiful Sango, although I really do believe I should be the one bringing up the rear.."

" That's exactly what we're trying to avoid, Monk," She gave him a knowing, narrow eyed glance, the words Miroku and rear always had the potential of being an embarrassing combination.

The gap in the tree line proved to be a heavily shaded path snaking away through the dense woods on a convergent course with the stream Sango had seen from the air. Too broad for a mere game trail, it appeared to be a well used track free of any of the undergrowth that crowded thickly along it's sides.

"I don't recall noticing this earlier," muttered Miroku, as he examined what was visible of the path before it disappeared around a gentle curve to the right about twenty feet into the trees.

" Me either," replied Sango, "and I sure didn't see it from above."

" Still, with the amount of brush in here, this is apparently the only easy way to pass through this particular part of the forest." Resolutely the monk took a step forward, then glanced around at the two young women following him, "Are you absolutely sure? After all I'm positive Kirara would suffice as our advance guard."

"Hey Miroku, if you don't start moving soon, Sango is probably going to lay you out with Hiraikotsu," the kit advised the stalling monk in an amused tone of voice.

" Ah Shippou, you are as yet too young to fully understand the feelings that a beautiful woman can inspire in the heart of a man..."

" Mi..Ro..Ku..." the threat of grievous bodily injury oozed out of every syllable of his name.

A sure-footed woodland deer could not have trotted up the path any more easily than the very wise monk who called back lightly over his shoulder, " Yes, but at least in here she doesn't have enough room to swing it."

As the path made it's first curve to the right silence over took the little group and they continued farther into the woods without talking. Overhead an aching vault of densely leaved branches provided a living roof for the wide green tunnel they found themselves venturing into. Kagome was reminded of the pictures she had seen of an English hedge-maze as the bushes along the sides of the path began to look less like wild undergrowth and more like neatly pruned shrubbery.

" This really might not be such a good idea, guys," she said in a small anxious voice. "Maybe we should really wait for InuYasha."

" Uh...Kagome?" Shippou sounded even more nervous than she did as he peered over her shoulder at the trail behind them. "Where did the path go?"

Turning around, the rest of the group was dismayed to find that an impenetrable wall of green now completely covered what had previously been an open tunnel.

" I don't like this at all," Sango muttered. "The only way we can get out of here is to keep going forward."

Miroku considered the leafy wall blocking their path of escape." It would appear that our presence has already been detected..."

" You people weren't exactly subtle back there with all the yelling earlier."

Shippou squeaked, Kagome squealed, nearly tossing the startled kit into the air in surprise. Dropping her now useless boomerang, Sango whirled back around unsheathing the sword she carried at her side. Miroku spun to face the unexpected speaker as well, the swirling black and blue of his robes partially concealing the fact that he was also reaching to loosen the prayer beads sealing the curse in his right hand.

The sight of the gray clad man casually scratching a docilely purring Kirara between the ears stopped them all. He gave them a broad, warm smile, " Before any of you act on the compulsion of your more violent tendencies.."

"Uh, he's not here.." Quite predictably came out of Shippou like some sort of strange oral knee-jerk response.

Doing a quick headcount, the young man stood up a little straighter, grinned and said, " We seem to be missing one. No wonder it had gotten so quiet. Well, he'll be along soon enough. Now, as I was saying..Why don't we go have a nice chat over dinner?"

" Not to be rude, but who.." Miroku began, the fingers of his left hand still entwined in the blue beads surrounding his right wrist.

" I'm so lacking in manners," with a gentle laugh the stranger executed a smart bow, sweeping aside the knotted gray silk scarf from his head with the aplomb of doffing a wide brimmed hat. To everyone's surprise a familiar looking pair of ears unfurled proudly, released from their silky prison. " I am Cu'...and I mean no harm to any of you."

Turning to stroll back down the open end of the path, Cu' cheerily called out over his shoulder, " I'm set up down by the water, have some rather nice fish grilling and a pot of steamed rice on as well." Kirara, padded along placidly at his side, tails waving contentedly in tandem behind her. A low purr rumbled in her throat as he turned to her and added," I also have an excellent trout waiting for you my dear, the very biggest one I could find.." The chummy pair disappeared around a bend in the path, leaving the others standing in a somewhat stunned silence.

" I suppose we should go after them," Miroku took a step forward, "Shall we ladies?"

"Is he a half demon too, Kagome?" Bright green eyes still round with surprise, Shippou asked his question shyly as he snuggled into the cradle of the girl's arms. "He looks an awful lot like InuYasha, but I think he has better manners."

" I don't know, guess we'll just have to go find out." Falling in behind behind their friends Kagome and Shippou continued to follow the path down to the river to see what awaited them in Cu's camp.

While InuYasha hadn't exactly dawdled in the retrieval of Kagome's belongings, he hadn't really hurried either. He had spent a little while sulking in the top of an old magnolia tree well out of earshot of her voice, in case she decided to shout out a certain word just for grins and giggles. She could be really sneaky that way. If Kagome got it into her head that he was somewhere nearby instead of out doing what he had told them he was going to do, she might try it out to see if any crashing sounds betrayed the loitering hanyou's location.

It was just another shitty day. Hadn't started out that way, hell he'd had such high hopes earlier, daring to think that it might even turn out to be one of those rare days when he could somehow manage to earn a hug from the girl. Everything had started to careen downhill as soon as that damned shard carrying lizard crossed their path and the way things were shaping up only pointed to a continued deterioration in the day's events that would probably end with him getting his ass partially entombed before nightfall. Well, maybe if he brought her stuff back intact and kept his mouth shut and didn't pound the kit into a lumpy pulp, the inevitable would be successfully circumvented.

Oh,wait..happy thought. Kagome might even be grateful enough to reward him with a hug for bringing her stuff back. Yeah, that could happen. Eager to be on the receiving end of something good for a change, the half demon abandoned his sulking spot and bounded over the treetops as he continued his self appointed errand.

Nothing had disturbed their earlier campsite. Backpack, bike and bow still lay close by the stone cold remains of the fire they had used during lunch. It would take him a bit longer to get back to the others since he would be carrying the cumbersome bike so InuYasha paused a moment to figure out the best way to distribute the load. Crouching down next to the bulky yellow knapsack, he toyed with the buckles thoughtfully as he turned over the logistics of the problem at hand in his mind. Unbidden the evil little imp of an earlier plan popped into his mind and took over his hands.

White-clawed fingers played idly with one of the the buckles, finally managing to tease it loose.

'Oh, look..the other one...yep, it's unfastened too. You'd think the Wench would learn to close this thing up properly '

Round yellow eyes glanced casually around the clearing, pausing to stare down the only possible witness to the impending crime, a bushy tailed squirrel who at last ran, with a chattering bark of alarm, back into the sagging boughs of it's recently demolished home.

' Yeah , you deserve to live in that tree you nosy little bastard '

' Should make sure everything is in there '

Flipping up the flap the half demon peered into the huge bag, taking his time as he sorted through everything that he knew full well he had no business bothering in the first place.

' ...just to check..you know..make sure. Wouldn't want anything to get...uh '

His hand finally closed upon exactly what it had been seeking all along.

' Little bastard would have to stuff it all the way down in the bottom '

There was a warning voice that whispered, " You know, you really shouldn't be doing this, InuYasha" but that tiny voice died with a horribly strangled cry as the hanyou's little imp throttled it into oblivion and tossed the body over his shoulder. Yeah, so far his day had been incredibly shitty, it was just time to spread around a bit of the wealth.

Looking everywhere but at the sketch pad that was suddenly sitting in his lap, the half demon listened for a moment just in case the warning voice had somehow managed to survive...It still wasn't too late to turn back. Straining his inner ears he waited...one...two...three...

' hell not even a wheeze '

Taking a deep breath the hanyou opened the pad to the most recently used sheets, looked down and saw his earlier embarrassment spread out across the page in vivid, glowing color, drawn in an unmistakable style that was truly Shippou's own. There before him was a shyly smiling Kagome, huge pair of tweezers in hand, pausing thoughtfully as she stared down at his bare ass cheeks which were peppered with so much wood that it looked like a small forest was busy sprouting out of his backside.

InuYasha didn't fully realize that he had completely shredded the entire sketch pad until a flurry of brightly colored bits of paper began to settle down out of the air around him. All that was left of Shippou's hapless pad was the wire spring which had once held all of the pages together and even it wasn't looking very much like a spring anymore. Like many people who commit a rash act on the spur of the moment with little thought of the consequences, InuYasha said the first thing that his crash back into reality brought to mind.

" Aw shit...I'm in trouble now."

The imp on his shoulder of course strenuously disagreed, pointing out that once the evidence was properly disposed of, no one would be the wiser. With that piece of advice out of the way, the little bastard then jumped ship to leave the hanyou to his own sorry devices. Slightly panicked and willing to believe any flimsy excuse he could think up given the circumstances, InuYasha snatched up the box of crayons,which had also found it's way out of the pack, as much of the tortured paper as he could find and did what any good dog would do... he buried them..

..in a really deep hole.

And covered the overturned earth with a small mountain of dry leaves.

And looked around to see that blasted bushy tailed squirrel watching him.

" You might not have much meat on you, but you'd make a hell of a tasty snack," he snarled at his unwanted audience. The audience took the hint and disappeared back into it's tree.

By the time he got back to the edge of the meadow, InuYasha had concocted a half a dozen possible stories to tell that would account for the missing sketch pad and crayons. He planned to just act as if nothing had happened and let how the subject was brought up dictate exactly which excuse to use. None of his excuses however involved the truth..they wouldn't be real excuses if they did...right? In any case, this time the truth would definitely not set him free but get him Sat instead. Getting Sat did not mean getting any hugs from Kagome either.

Speaking of which...where in the hell was everybody?

It wasn't difficult for him to determine exactly which direction his friends had taken. He set out after them, bow and pack on one shoulder, the pink devil contraption over the other, cursing softly under his breath but at the same time entertaining the idea that this might be something that could be turned to his advantage. A little misdirection might actually put them all in the wrong for running off into possible danger without his protection. That might work...it could get his ass off the hook...right?

He stalked into the woods on the opposite side of the clearing, growing more confident with every step. In less than five minutes he had successfully tracked them to their new campsite. The smell of roasting fish and the sound of giddy laughter greeted him before he even stepped into the camp. What he found wasn't exactly what he expected.

There were all of his friends, sitting around a campfire, eating. There was his Kagome sitting next to a gray haired...

' wait a minute, that bastard is the guy who took the shard...what the hell? He's a hanyou...he's sitting next to..'

"Hey! Get away from her!" The bag, the bow and the bike all hit the ground at just about the same time. ' Fuck, is this going to turn out to be another damn Koga? '

Kagome hopped up and ran over to him, her beautiful brown eyes dancing happily. "Oh, InuYasha, I'm so glad your back. Thank you for getting my things."

And then she did it. She hugged him, right in front of everybody..including that bastard shard thief.

InuYasha forgot about the shard momentarily and gave himself over to pretending that if Kagome loved him more than just as a friend, she'd hug him like this all the time. It was a sadly short moment.

Taking advantage of the dropped and temporarily forgotten backpack, the kit was rummaging around inside of it in a flash, chirruping in that high little voice of his, " I want to show my drawings to Cu'."

"Who the fuck is Cu'?" InuYasha asked about one beat before the 'I want to show my drawings to..'part made him realize how grave things had suddenly decided to become.

"Uh, Kagome? Where is my pad and crayons? I know I put them away.." backing out of the yellow bag Shippou stared up at the girl with tears shimmering in his eyes.

There was a definite sense of impending doom descending rapidly over the half demon and he felt like someone who had just enjoyed a last meal before being taken out to face the executioner. This was going to truly suck.

" What happened to Shippou's sketch pad, InuYasha?" her big brown eyes were no longer happily alight, instead a growing little flame of suspicion flickered in their depths.

" Uhahahahuh.." his mouth went dry as every story that he had so carefully made up to cover his tracks waved goodbye in a mad dash to follow the imp off the rapidly sinking ship.

Reaching up, Kagome brushed her fingers through his hair. They came out holding a telltale piece of brightly colored paper, the last deathbed confession of Shippou's brutally murdered artwork.

This was a shitty day.

" InuYasha?" Her tone said it all, he could see that awful vengeance rushing to meet him, in much the same way as his face would soon rush to meet the ground. It was a really shitty day, but at least he did get a hug. He could die happy..

Two little words splintered the air and the hanyou hurtled down into the inevitable. They were followed by their identical siblings in rapid, spitfire succession. He stopped counting at six, the dirt was well past his ears by that time anyway.

A quiet calm finally reclaimed the campsite and the dust began to settle out of the air, as InuYasha regained consciousness lying at the bottom of a sizable, curiously shaped crater. Trying to assess whether anything was broken the half demon managed to flick enough dirt out of his right ear to hear a strangely familiar voice say, " She's a feisty little thing, isn't she?"


	11. Chapter 11

**First I would like to again thank Rumiko Takahashi for creating InuYasha. She of course owns him, his friends and his world. I make no claims upon them, nor do I look to make so much as a penny off the story I have posted here.**

**Thank you for your patience..it is Monday and here is the Chapter promised in my last introduction.**

**I hope you all find it as enjoyable to read as it was to write.**

Chapter Twelve

" A display of Lady Kagome' s temper can be quite fascinating to watch at times," Seated next to the fire Miroku spoke softly under his breath to prevent being overheard by anyone other than the two people with him. " She and InuYasha have been going back and forth at each other for most of today, it is truly surprising that this didn't happen a great deal earlier."

" Does she bury him in the ground like that very often?" their host asked in a normal tone of voice, apparently unconcerned at who might be listening in on the conversation. Cu' studied the young woman sitting beneath a tree a short distance away from the campfire as she consoled the tearful Kitsune over the loss of his drawing pad and crayons.

" Usually the hole isn't quite that deep," the monk replied with a rueful shake of his head, "but I'm afraid InuYasha does tend to find himself face down in the dirt quite frequently."

" And you both condone her actions?" He glanced back at Miroku and Sango with a quizzical look. Under his level gaze the couple's cheeks colored slightly. "Don't you two consider him your friend as well?"

" InuYasha's habit of rashly acting on impulse does tend to upset Kagome...that and his blunt ways and more than colorful vocabulary," Miroku replied quietly.

His excuse was mirrored by Sango's, " Yes, he can be very rude, but mostly it's just some of the things he says that makes her mad."

" So she punishes him for his embarrassing lapses in etiquette, not because she is afraid he will hurt her. You said he threatened her life the first time they met and that is why he was collared with the rosary in the first place ?"

" Yes," Miroku nodded, "From what I have learned through the stories of Lady Kaede, their first meeting was a volatile one."

" But InuYasha would never physically hurt Kagome now," Sango said quietly, " at least not willingly."

"In fact anyone laying a hand on her is likely to get whats left of it handed back to them, if InuYasha is around." The monk calmly stated, "Where Kagome is concerned he is more than somewhat overly protective."

"So she's no longer afraid of him and now continues to use the necklace just to keep him in line. I suppose that one forced to live most of their formative years in a rough and wild manner should be disciplined fairly roughly as well," Cu' folded his arms into his loose sleeves and continued watching Kagome and Shippou. " Purely from a spectator's standpoint, what I saw earlier was a young man return with the young lady's belongings, receive a very heartfelt thanks for it, then in the next instant be violently punished simply because the child starting crying over the loss of a stack of paper. What I did not notice was the young man being given much of a chance to defend himself before being forced to create that sizable hole in the ground."

" Your point is taken, friend. We were all guilty of not allowing InuYasha to at least be given a chance to account for Shippou's missing supplies, however," leaning forward Miroku stirred up the campfire with a stick, "knowing InuYasha, the sketchpad and crayons probably with met a pretty grisly end."

" Ah," Cu' smiled at him, " But are not possessions replaceable? Surely much more so than the trust of a feral creature who has learned he will not be treated with the same fairness and compassion that others receive. I believe it was the Buddha who said, 'conquer by force and you increase anger, Conquer by love and you will reap no sorrow afterward' ."

Miroku nodded, his face taking on a thoughtful look. " You are most wise, Lord Cu'. Perhaps we have been remiss in our treatment of InuYasha by being too quick to punish and too slow to praise."

His gaze had also drifted over to where Kagome sat next to her partially repacked backpack. Suitably appeased with hugs and promises of a new pad and crayons, the fox boy had left her in favor of a noisy game of tag among the trees surrounding the camp with the now kitten-sized Kirara. Although seemingly occupied with rearranging the contents of her knapsack, it wasn't lost on the trio seated around the campfire that the girl was in fact eavesdropping.

" It is just that InuYasha can be very stubborn at times," Sango added. " If he decides to do something, it can be nearly impossible to change his mind."

" Obstinance happens to be a hallmark trait of both InuYoukai and humans. You all should be glad for him that he is such a strongly tenacious creature, were he not you would never have had the pleasure of meeting him.

After refastening the buckle on the top flap of her knapsack, Kagome stood up with a sigh. Cu' watched her slowly walk off in the direction of the riverbank before turning back to look at Miroku and Sango, his silver eyes glittering softly with the reflected light of the fire. "Now, why don't you both tell me what it is that she is really punishing him for?"

InuYasha sat on the grassy bank next to a small inlet protruding like a calm watery finger off the main body of the rushing stream and watched the gibbous moon's early rise above the treetops. Hauntingly pale and almost passing unnoticed in it's quiet ascent, the silvery face of earth's night time guardian was overshadowed by the more spectacular light of the fiery setting sun.

In an effort to remove the annoying layer of encrusting dirt acquired during his most recent and deepest excavation of the day, the half demon had jumped into the river for a swim, fully clothed. After his impromptu bath he had paused to watch the moonrise but spite of a thorough shake down after leaving the water, his hair and clothing were still slightly damp.

From where he sat the sounds of murmuring voices reached his ears, but he wasn't bothering to try and follow the conversation. Still smarting from his most recent dance with humiliation the hanyou was in no hurry to go back and rejoin the others. While his first impulse was to take a long run through the woods, just to put some distance between himself and the pack of irritating humans fate had seen fit to saddle him with, there was still the issue of the stranger they called Cu'. InuYasha would not run off and leave them in the hands of an unknown, no matter how benign or gracious their host may seem to be, because that would mean leaving Kagome unprotected.

So he stubbornly kept to his solitary post on the edge of the river, far enough outside the camp not to be a part of it, but still close enough to return in a flash if things turned ugly. Sadly, it didn't look like he was going to be needed to protect anyone since relations between all of his friends and Cu' seemed to be quite cordial. InuYasha sighed.

The sound of hesitant footsteps picking their way toward him in the growing dark across uneven ground, made his body instantly tense in preparation to assume a defensive stance, then like a gentle announcement preceding her arrival, Kagome's scent came to him and he just as quickly relaxed. InuYasha continued to stare up at the moon as the girl sat down, her right elbow lightly bumping his left upper arm as she took a seat in the grass next to him.

" There's plenty of fish and rice left.." she began in her normal cheerful tone of voice.

" I'm not hungry." His tone was normal too, gruff and more than a little bit surly. Of course his rebellious stomach chose that exact moment to put it's two cents in and growled loudly enough to brand him a liar. '..fuckin great..'

" Yeah, well...um," Kagome refrained from calling him on it, took a deep breath and said instead, "I'm sorry for ….earlier. I should have given you a chance to explain what happened first before..."

" You don't have to apologize to me," He kept his eyes on the dispassionate beacon in the sky, "I don't deserve it."

"But that's just not true, InuYasha..."

" Yes, it is Kagome. I tore up the brat's book, buried it and those damn crayons too. If you'd asked me what happened, I'd a just lied about it," InuYasha looked down at his hands splayed out on the ground in front of him, "You were right to sit me, so don't go apologizing about it now."

" No, you wouldn't have.."

"Wouldn't have what? Lied about it? Feh..Guess again...I already had half a dozen good stories made up..." he glanced over at Kagome, eyes hidden from her by the fall of thick bangs over his forehead.

" And you wouldn't have used a one of them, because that's not who you are, InuYasha," Kagome gave him one of her special smiles," You're not a liar."

Turning to face her he snorted in disgust, " Wench, are you deaf? I just did lie to you, about not being hungry."

"Yeah, but your stomach came clean and told the truth." To his quiet delight the special smile didn't leave her face in spite of his blustery protest.

"Feh, whatever..." He braced himself for the smile to turn into a far less pleasant expression, " I would tear that damned book up again, if I got the chance.. even if you sat me into the next century."

" But why? Kagome's look changed to one of bewilderment.

" It wasn't your bare ass cheeks that he was drawing and planning on showing to everybody," the half demon growled, " and if he did, then I'd have to tear the brat into tiny pieces and bury him in a deep hole...with his pad...and his damned crayons."

" Oh.." That the reserved hanyou had actually been embarrassed by a few simple drawings was a revelation to Kagome, since to her Shippou's pictures were merely amusing little cartoons. "I'm sorry, InuYasha. I didn't realize.."

"There you go Wench...apologizing again. Would you just quit already?" he was still trying to sound disgruntled, but the sincere look on her face made him fail miserably. "It's Ok, come on..."

Kagome watched him stand up, once again amazed at how tall he actually was once he unfolded himself from his typical hunkered down, dog-like crouch. Taking his offered hand, she smiled up at him happily as he pulled her effortlessly to her feet.

" Before you ask..I promise not to tear the kit up into little pieces..." Still holding her hand InuYasha began leading her back over toward the campfire, picking his way carefully so that no foot catching obstacle would lie in wait for the girl behind him.

" I was thinking more like you promising not to destroy Shippou's next sketch book.." Kagome said as she shadowed his footsteps. It had grown quite dark since sunset and the watery moonlight was of little help at all in navigating over the uneven ground.

" I already made my one promise of the day," he smirked, "shoulda spoke up quicker."

" Hey, Since when are you limiting promises to one a day?" She gave him a playful smack on the shoulder.

" Ow... Quit that Wench, trying to cripple me?" A shy half smile lit his face, he glanced down at her as they stepped into the perimeter of the campfire's soft light. "Promises are special to me...I don't make any that I don't intend to keep."

The fact that InuYasha walked over to the campfire in front of Kagome, then positioned himself so that he was between her and Cu' wasn't lost on anyone present. His friends all smiled and welcomed him back, even Shippou although the kit's smile appeared to be a little forced. One look at the Kitsune's hard green eyes, let the hanyou know that, as far as the aggrieved party was concerned, he wasn't even close to being forgiven.

InuYasha ignored the tiny daggers shooting out of Shippou's eyes and focused his attention on the gray clad figure of Cu'. He found it unsettling that not only did this strange aura-less hanyou seem disturbingly familiar, but that he couldn't recall exactly where or even when he had run across him before. Not taking his eyes off Cu', the half demon accepted a bowl of rice and a still skewered fish from Kagome and began to eat.

"It's impolite to stare at people," the girl whispered in his ear as she sat down next to him.

" I ain't starin'," he mumbled right back around a mouthful of fish, "I'm just...uh looking in that direction."

Kagome rolled her eyes. "We aren't even going to mention talking with your mouth full," she shot right back.

" Good," InuYasha smirked at her, then turned back to his perusal of Cu', while at the same time hoping Kagome hadn't noticed the several new flakes of river trout now decorating her red neckerchief. The unmistakable sound of multiple somethings being hastily swatted off cloth reached his ears. 'Oops, she noticed..'

" You're just impossible sometimes, you know that?

InuYasha kept his eyes on Cu'. He didn't want to see the face that Kagome was making at him at the moment, since it was most likely every bit as nasty as the tone of her last remark. Stuffing his mouth with as much as it would hold seemed the safest way to end the current conversation. Tossing the remains of the stripped to the backbone fish over his shoulder, the hanyou snagged another trout from it's cozy fireside seat. ' Damn this is so fuckin familiar..Why?'  
Aware of both InuYasha's discomfiture at being unable to place him as well as his long established habit of talking while actively chewing, Cu' smiled to himself and directed his attention to Shippou.

"You asked me for a story, I believe?"

Smiling broadly, the child hopped up on Cu's knee and nodded. "Kagome's read me all the ones in the book she brought with her. Besides, I kinda know them all by heart now anyway..." His chirpy little voice trailed off expectantly.

" And you want a new story..."

" Yeah, that would be great." The kit settled right down and stared up at Cu' with his wide green eyes and patiently waited.

Cu' arched an eyebrow, thought a moment, then smiled as he glanced around at the small party ringing the campfire. " I know one that I doubt most of you have heard."

" As with most tales of this nature, it happened a great number of years ago. There was a powerful Warlord who built his fortress between a river and a great dark forest. Of course, the forest was the home of many fierce demons, but being a man of great wealth and even greater pride he simply did not care. In time a prosperous town grew up around his stronghold, the land surrounding it was cleared for farmland, the dark woodlands were pushed back and the thoughts of demons were all but forgotten."

"What happened to him?" Shippou asked.

"Nothing at all. He lived to be an old man, died in his sleep and passed the lands and title on to his eldest son."

"That's not much of a story, if you ask me," Shippou folded his arms across his chest and prepared to pout over being cheated out of a more exciting tale.

" Did I say I was through?"

"No, but.."

" Then, be quiet and listen. It is bad form for small squirts to interrupt adults."

Shippou resettled himself as Cu' continued.

" The eldest son, like his father, was also a powerful lord, The land and the people upon it prospered under him and like the generation that had gone before, no one gave a second thought to any demons."

"Not very much ever happened around there, did it?" The fox boy commented dryly.

" Are you going to hush and listen to what I have to say," Cu' gave the kit a pointed look, " Or am I going to have to turn you over to InuYasha for disposal?"

The green eyes widened in shock, a stifled round of snickers managed to escape a trio of surprised party members and InuYasha stopped chewing his third fish to grin darkly at the fox.

" You...you w..wou..wouldn't really do..do that...would you?" There was a definite quaver in the child's voice, a huge tear trembled atop a lower lid.

" Oh, you're good," Cu' said wryly, " but, I'm not in the mood for cheap theater. Now conserve your water."

A mumbled "Told you all so," sounded suspiciously like it came from InuYasha's fish stuffed mouth.

Shippou's eyes immediately went dry, "I'll be quiet.."

Cu' nodded and continued. " In time the Lord took a wife, who blessed him with three fine stalwart sons and a beautiful daughter. Of all his children it was the daughter who held the highest place in the Lord's heart." Cu' looked down at the Kitsune on his knee. The silent little fellow was giving him his full attention as was everyone else, except for InuYasha who appeared to be far more interested in consuming a fourth fish than listening to a fire side fairy tale.

" Now the Lord's tiny daughter was exquisitely beautiful, very bright and sweet tempered, all those things that a princess should be. She was also quite curious and at times a little bit more adventurous than a proper young lady of her station was supposed to be."

" It was that adventurous streak which is the real beginning of this story..."

"Then why didn't you just start there to begin with?" This pithy observation flew out of his mouth before Shippou had a chance to think about containing it. Slapping both hands over his lips, the fox boy muttered a strangled "Sorry.." through tightly laced fingers.

There was a poorly disguised chuckle as the half demon reached for another fish, "Just can't keep it shut, can ya Runt."

" Foot in mouth disease seems to be quite a common affliction in these parts," Cu' said quietly before starting to resume his narrative. He didn't get his mouth open.

"Feh," InuYasha actually swallowed before speaking, "Get on with your story, everyone's listening." Of course this comment earned him a quick jab to the ribs from the girl sitting next to him. "Hey? What did you do that for?"

Kagome's glower in response was enough to shut him up on the spot. Taking another large bite of fish, InuYasha decided he much preferred eating what was currently in his hand over revisiting the bountiful dirt banquet he had feasted on earlier.

" Please, continue with your tale Lord Cu'," Miroku's polite request was given a nod of recognition by the beleaguered storyteller.

" As I was saying, it was that adventurous streak that is the real beginning of this story. One fine spring day, the women of the family decided to take their children for a picnic lunch under the flowering canopies of a large cherry orchard growing next to the Lord's manor-house. Looking like a fine porcelain doll herself the little princess was among the group of children taken outside that day on this outing. As the women sat about in their colorful silk robes, sipping tea and watching the children run about in a laughing game of tag, the little princess scooped up her favorite doll and went exploring on her own. No one saw her leave."

"She wandered about for a bit beneath the blossoming trees, stopping occasionally to pick up a fallen flower, but inevitably her footsteps brought her right to the edge of the dark forest bordering the northern edge of the orchard. Without a backward glance, the little girl walked straight into that foreboding place and began following a narrow game trail which naturally led her deeper and deeper into into the woods."

"After a while, she entered a small glade and sat down upon a plush carpet of ground moss to rest. By now it was growing late in the afternoon, the shadows were stretching dark and long beneath the trees and she could no longer make out exactly where the narrow path she had been following entered the clearing. She began singing a lullaby to her doll, for you see, she had at last grown frightened of her surroundings and singing always made her feel better when she was lonely or scared."

"The little princess was trying very hard not to cry as she wondered how she was going to find her way back home. She began to think about the stories her grandmother had told her, about the wild beasts and angry demons who made their homes in that very forest and she wondered why she had ever thought it was a good idea to come into it in the first place."

"Quite suddenly, the bushes off to her right began to shake. She clutched her doll tightly to her chest and stared toward the noise, terrified of what was headed her way."

"Did..did some..something jump out and..and eat her?" Shippou asked breathlessly, his green eyes wide in rapt attention.

"No, not at all. For a moment, the bushes shook, their leaves flying off madly in all directions, then just when she thought she couldn't be any more scared, out into the clearing ran a fuzzy white puppy."

" Startled the child just stared for she was still very frightened but, giving a happy yip, the puppy did what any self respecting puppy would do when greeting a new friend, he jumped into her lap and began licking her on the chin. This of course made her laugh and before long she was cuddling and petting the squirming little fellow, all thoughts of being afraid having vanished from her mind."

" After a while, her new playmate, began to tug upon the sleeve of her kimono urging her to get to up and follow him. She did, without giving the matter any thought at all. Small though he was, the white puppy made the girl feel quite safe and so she trailed along behind him back through the trees. His pale coat was easy to see even in the deepest of shadows. As they went back along the rediscovered game trail, the puppy encouraged his young companion to hurry by jumping and leaping before her feet and talking to her with cheerful puppy barks."

"Before too long the princess heard the calls of her mother and aunts who were running about the orchard searching frantically for her. Calling out to them, the girl ran forward, then turned to see if her friend the puppy was following. Like a glowing white ghost, he stood under the eaves of the forest watching her intently with his bright golden eyes. As her worried mother reached her she looked away for only an instant but when she turned back, the puppy had vanished. Of course all the adults declared the missing white puppy to be only a construct of the child's over active imagination, after all what kind of puppy could be smart enough to find her in the forest and actually lead her in the direction of home."

" Did she ever see him again?" The Kitsune asked, hoping that this wasn't the end of the story.

" Oh , indeed she did. She saw him many times after that as she was growing up. Naturally she never again mentioned his presence to anyone, partly because she felt that no one would believe her but also because she enjoyed having a secret friend."

" She would see him in the orchard, or run across him in a corner of her father's gardens, but it was always when there was no one else around. As she grew up into a beautiful young woman, so did the puppy mature into a fine and handsome large white dog. He seemed to enjoy laying curled up at her feet listening to her read, or sing, or just talk to him. She of course told him everything, all of her hopes, her dreams and her desires. Over the years the willing dog's ears became a secret repository for the true wishes of the princess's heart until he knew her even better than she knew herself."

"Then one day, the dog came to pay her a visit and found the girl huddled in the cherry orchard, crying bitterly. This sorely distressed him because he could never stand to see her upset and he licked the tears away from her soft cheek as an offer of comfort. In broken sobs the girl told her dear friend the reason for her distress. As she was now of a marriageable age, a suitable match befitting a young woman of her station had been arranged with the son of a high ranking nobleman living in a city far to the north. Her future husband would be coming soon to take her away with him and she would never be able to see her old friend again."

"This news distressed the dog even more than her tears. For many years he had been her most trusted companion, listening to her secrets, watching her blossom and grow. The thought that a strange man would soon come to claim what was his, brought a dark and angry light to his golden eyes. No one deserved her love more than the being who had already earned it, the being who loved her not only for the beauty of her body but for the beauty of her soul as well. Doing the one thing that he had vowed never to do, in his sudden fit of jealousy the dog at last revealed himself to the young woman he had fallen in love with so long ago."

"At first the girl was shocked, as the companion of her youth transformed suddenly from a great white dog, into the form of a tall man, with long silvery white hair and golden yellow eyes. Thus it was that the princess learned her companion was in truth the demon lord, who protected the forest..."

The dull thud of a wooden bowl hitting the ground interrupted the storyteller. Cu' glanced up to see the wide eyed stare of the hanyou gazing back at him. InuYasha had been listening quietly to the story as it progressed, first in amusement that anyone would be interested in such a silly tale then, in growing disbelief as Cu' unfolded the latter part of the story of the princess and the white dog. Now he sat, a skewered fish forgotten in one hand, a half empty rice bowl rolling in the dust at his feet and the color slowly draining from his face with the realization of just what he and everyone else had been listening to.

" I've heard this before..my mother..," InuYasha jumped to his feet, yellow eyes flashing dangerously beneath ink-black scowling brows. "Just who in the fuck are you? Who told you that story?"

Everyone around the campfire held their breath at InuYasha's unexpectedly violent reaction, everyone except Cu'. He had been expecting it all along. Returning the half demon's glare of anger with a gentle smile he replied quietly " Why Child, for the second time in your life you have come into my camp and eaten up the last of my fish...don't tell me that you do not remember me at all."


	12. Chapter 12

**First , the disclaimer. As always I politely bow to the talents of Rumiko Takahashi the creator of InuYasha. I am here to tell a story solely as an amusement and will expect nor accept any monetary reward for this humble missive.**

**Second, an apology. Unfortunately I had to work all week, which made it impossible for me to get this chapter out any sooner. For any of you who looked for it a couple of days ago, Again..I do apologize.**

**Also a wave to WindMiko for consistently picking up my spirits and to Taeniaea for a review as well.**

Chapter Thirteen

" I really have no intention of getting into a scrap with you," Cu' said mildly as he swung Shippou off his knee and onto the ground. Before InuYasha could react the gray clad man's left index finger had already reached out and lightly tapped the half demon in the center of his forehead. This simple action instantly transformed the hanyou's fierce scowl into a far off, expressionless stare.

" What did you just do to him?" Kagome demanded as she worriedly searched her companion's face for any lingering sign of awareness. "Is he alright ?" The clear note of anxiety highlighting the girl's voice caused both Miroku and Sango to spring up from where they had been sitting, ready to defend their suddenly silent friend if needed.

Quickly motioning at the small group with an abrupt right handed gesture demanding their silence, Cu' knelt down on one knee and repositioned InuYasha's face so that he could look directly into the boy's blank yellow eyes. A profound feeling of serenity enveloped the half demon's concerned friends as they heard their strange host begin to speak in a deeply soothing tone, " Be calm now Child. You have endured such grievous misfortune for so very long a time. A considerable amount of enmity has been stored in your heart, an animus which helped you to grow strong and survive. That old life of resentful loneliness though has recently changed for the better. So great a wealth of anger is now detrimental to your survival. Now, you must let some of it go."

Once again using his left index finger, Cu' traced a small circle between InuYasha's eyes. " In this hour has come the time to understand that you are truly no longer all alone."

Slowly the half demon's yellow eyes began to focus on Cu's silver ones. He blinked once..twice then said softly, " I thought you were only part of an old dream, GinCu'."

" You remember me now?"

InuYasha nodded, his face alight with an amiable expression quite unlike the one that normally graced his features. " Yes, you gave me all the fish and rice I could eat one night...when I was very little. I remember that. You killed an Oni which was coming after me. I remember that too. It is good to see you again, GinCu'."

Cu' sat back down next to the fire, a broad smile on his face. " It is good to see you again as well, InuYasha, now that you are in a more rational state of mind."

" I remember..." a mischievous twinkle suddenly sparkled in the depths of the hanyou's large yellow eyes, " You.. You kissed Sesshoumaru." The recollection of that particular memory caused InuYasha to nearly collapse under a paroxysm of cackling laughter. "You're one lucky bastard, you know? It's a miracle your lips didn't burn right off..."

" What?"... " Huh, he did what?"..." He kissed who?".... "Ewww...and I thought he was smarter than InuYasha.." Exploded as an inquisitive chorus from the temporarily forgotten spectators ranged around the fire.

" It wasn't like THAT at all." Cu' calmly watched the half demon's shoulders continue to shake as he unsuccessfully tried to stifle another loud guffaw. " Perhaps if I kissed you in the same way that would put things into proper perspective for everyone here."

The unrestrained laughter ceased with Cu' realizing at the same time that he was now only gazing at empty air. Glancing around he quickly found the hanyou's hiding place as the crouching half demon peeked at him cautiously from behind Kagome's right shoulder.

" It's plain to see that you apparently haven't matured very much at all," the gray clad man stated dryly.

"Well Duh..." Kagome loured back over her shoulder, pinning the cowering InuYasha in place with an exasperated frown, "Just what do you think you're doing?"

" Uh..I,uh.." As he stared up sheepishly into her deep brown eyes, trying to find voice for an excuse that wouldn't thoroughly emasculate him in front of his friends, InuYasha's countenance became infused with a look of mature awareness that Kagome had never seen on his face before. He gazed back into her eyes, as though actually seeing her for the first time and a smile of happy recognition played at the corners of his mouth. Grabbing the girl around the waist with both arms, InuYasha sat up and unceremoniously pulled Kagome backwards into his lap. With an impassioned sigh he embraced her in a fervent hug, buried his face in the junction of her neck and shoulder then whispered tenderly "I'm doing this."

"Gack!" Alarmed by his unexpected display of affection, Kagome's body stiffened instantly as her cheeks flared brightly crimson beneath a pair of overly wide brown eyes that would have put a startled owl to shame. "What? What are you...Inu...." she vainly tried to push herself up out of the tight band of his enfolding arms in a wild flurry of movement, "InuYasha.. stop... it...SI.."

Cu' darted forward and tapped the struggling girl on the forehead with his right index finger a second before she could reflexively utter the one word that would, in this case, do irreparable damage to herself. "You really do need to learn not to retaliate with that command quite so often, Child," he said with a grin.

A feeling of blissful contentment stole over Kagome as she relaxed and leaned back into the warm comfort of InuYasha's arms. Reaching up with her hand she gently rubbed behind his right ear. " I've missed you.. so very much.."

InuYasha snuggled in closer, nuzzled her right cheek, inhaled deeply and replied, "I've missed you too," there was a small catch in his voice as he added, "It's been so long...why has it been so long?"

Swiveling around to fully encircle his neck within her arms, Kagome gazed into InuYasha's shining yellow eyes. "I don't know," she whispered softly bringing her lips to brush lightly against his, "but quit talking, we have much to make up for.."

Except for a softly chuckling Cu', the young couple's open mouthed companions all stood around in shocked amazement, unsure of exactly how or why the dynamic between the pair had changed so dramatically. Predictably it was the resourceful monk who recovered his wits first, unfortunately his common sense didn't see fit to accompany them. With a not so innocent smile Miroku turned expectantly to the young woman sitting next to him. "My dear Sango," he said in an unmistakably suggestive manner, the glitter of a roguish twinkle lighting up his dark eyes, "Since InuYasha and Lady Kagome have so thoughtfully broken the ice...Why don't we.."

" Uh,oh..Now, you've done it," the Kit's muttered aside presaged by only a heartbeat the almost simultaneous sounds of a sharply ringing, heavy-handed smack accompanied by the dull 'Kerthump' of a body dropping bonelessly into the dirt. Spooked into silence by such noisy competition the crickets in the bushes and the night croakers down by the river ceased their gently harmonious twilight serenade " He never learns..." Shippou shook his head wearily and rolled his eyes for emphasis as he looked up at Cu'.

" Is this bunch always so volatile when it comes to showing their affection for each other?" Cu' asked while at the same time watching as the now somewhat giddy monk, sporting one very bright red cheek, slowly tried to pick himself up off the ground.

" Pretty much, Miroku gets slapped a lot, InuYasha gets sat a lot ...See what I have to put up with?" The Kitsune hopped back up on Cu's knee. "So, that story you were telling us...It really was about InuYasha's parents?"

Cu' nodded, regarding the child with level silvery gray eyes. " I've always thought it was quite charming the way that they met." Giving a quick sideways glance he noted that the demonslayer's anger had already cooled towards the monk who, in an attempt to avoid further injury, was apologizing to her rather profusely for his lascivious lapse in judgment.

" If you're the only one besides InuYasha who knows about them meeting like that then.." the Kitsune gave Cu' a speculative look, " then you must have had a hand in their getting together."

"Let's just say I gave InuYasha's father a shove in the proper direction at the right time."

A low throaty growl masking a seductively low keyed murmur was answered by Kagome's lighthearted giggle.

Shippou sighed heavily, " Even so, it's still a story with a sad ending, if it's about InuYasha's parents."

" Not at all. A minor tragedy here in the mortal world means nothing at all in terms of eternity. They are both very happy with each other, even now."

Another feminine giggle from the opposite side of the camp echoed the first.

"Really?" there was a hint of undisguised wonder in the fox boy's voice.

"Really, as are your parents." Cu' gave the child a gentle smile.

That simple statement made Shippou grin broadly. " My Mama and Papa are together and they're happy?"

" Yes, they most certainly are." Muffled laughter from both sides of the camp counterpointed Cu's quiet answer to the Kitsune's question.

Shippou's bright green eyes narrowed as he leaned back to get a better look at Cu's face. "How would you know?"

"Because I am a Guardian of Souls and know everything about those entrusted to my care. Why do you think you and your friends accepted my presence here so easily? It was I who released your souls to be born into this world, Child and I who will be there to greet them upon their return."

"InuYasha, wasn't so accepting at first," Shippou pointed out.

" Well He is a bit of a special case ..."

" That big idiot's special alright.." Thinking he had grumbled that little remark soundlessly under his breath, Shippou jumped as Cu' thumped him smartly on the top of the head.

" Don't speak snidely about what you are in ignorance of, it isn't becoming." The Guardian gave him a reproving frown.

" Yeah, but I'm a youkai.." Shippou gave the Guardian an exaggerated scowl as proof of his innate ferocity.

" Why so you are," Cu' returned the scowl with an indulgent smile, " exactly as I meant you to be."

" But, everyone knows Youkai are evil. So I have an excuse to be snide.." His high pitched voice trailed off on a note of uncertainty as Cu' silently mouthed an unmistakable 'No'.

" But it doesn't really matter since..Well. Uh, wont I go to a...bad place anyway when I die?" A woeful look crept across Shippou's cherubic face.

" Like the some seven leveled hell, eternal torment, fire, brimstone, pain everlasting, sit around for eternity bemoaning the fate of your sad sorry ass kind of bad place?"

Somewhere nearby something heavy hit the ground with a thump, there was another giggle and an answering moan. A couple of seconds later the sounds were repeated a short distance away.

" Well, yeah.." the Kitsune's lower lip trembled slightly, " Everyone says youkai automatically go there cause we're evil.."

" A place of eternal torment in the afterlife is purely a mortal construct designed by the religious to keep believers in line. It is a place that many fear, few think they truly deserve and most spend their spare time wishing others into. While some souls do choose to have that particular experience after the death of their corporeal body, as soon as they grow tired of it they come right back to me. A good little soul like yourself has nothing to worry about."

Greatly relieved to find out that he wasn't in any danger of passing eternity sprinting across burning hot rocks while trying to extinguish his flaming furry tail, Shippou thoughtfully reflected on what Cu' had told him a few moments before asking," But what about the really evil ones..like Naraku?"

" Good and evil are merely two ways to reach an end. Before each reincarnation a soul purposely chooses which path to take in order to best learn those lessons it needs to obtain enlightenment. Those beings that you would consider truly evil have been enthralled by Chaos and are no longer free to follow either path. While most of them are infant souls that were easily captured because of a combination of inexperience and naivety, a dangerous few, like Naraku, are more mature and were warped into Chaos through outright trickery. Such souls are unable to evolve in a normal manner. They remain trapped at their current level, doomed to repeat the same negative mistakes over and over each time they reincarnate. Part of my job is to eventually reclaim them all."

" I bet InuYasha's brother is one of those lost ones, he's pretty evil," the Kitsune said with certainty.

" Sesshoumaru? No, not at all. His soul is actually quite old, and not at all evil, in spite of how most seem to view it's present manifestation. Like all of you, he is here for a specific reason."

Shippou's eyes widened at this unexpected tidbit of news. "He sure acts evil, if you ask me." Still not entirely convinced of the Daiyoukai's well hidden innocence, the child decided to change the subject, "So, if we are here for a reason...what is it?"

Cu' arched an eyebrow in amusement as he regarded the inquisitive little boy perched on his knee. " You're quite the nosy fellow, aren't you?"

"If you don't ask questions, you never learn anything..that's what Kagome told me," Shippou stated flatly, crossing his arms across his puffed out chest.

Nodding thoughtfully the Guardian looked the Kitsune in the eye as he replied," You are here to help InuYasha and Kagome aid me in preventing Chaos from claiming more infant souls."

" Sango and Miroku too?"

"Sango and Miroku too."

Shippou was visibly surprised." I thought we were just trying to gather up the shards of the Shikon Jewel.. that and defeat Naraku."

" The Jewel is a potent Chaos nexus. It's continued existence in this mortal realm means more and more souls will be enslaved and unable to return to Bliss. With it's eradication the enslavement will be broken, freeing those souls to progress once again and Chaos will have to sit back, take a headfull of lumps and patiently wait for another opportunity to piss me off."

" You make it sound like stuff like this happens all the time."

" Oh it does. It has, it is and it will again. The cycle is endless. But this particular world is one that has been dedicated to order, that is why life flourishes here. While a certain amount of chaos is necessary to promote the evolution and growth of the souls bound to an orderly realm, the annihilative type of disruption that the Shikon Jewel represents is entirely detrimental to the balance of this world."

" Uh..Cu'," Shippou cut his eyes away from the Guardian's face to look across the campfire. " You know I'm only a little kid, right?" the bright green eyes glanced back up at Cu' then cut away again, " I think I'm about to see some things I really shouldn't.."

Cu' looked over in the direction the kit was indicating and promptly clamped his hand over the fox boy's eyes. " Oh my, no wonder it's grown so damn quiet around here."

" I don't think it's going to stay that way for long," the Kit said as he tried to pry himself a decent sized peephole between a pair of the long fingers effectively blindfolding him.

The Guardian rapidly waved his other hand, making a short chopping gesture at the young couple, who only moments before had been whispering of their of love for one another. The effect was instantaneous as they both fell deeply asleep in a tangle of limbs and partially discarded clothing before they could finish acting out what they had been professing so ardently. A furtive movement and a sigh over to his left alerted Cu' to the more than friendly reconciliation of the other pair as well and they too were sent down into sleep with another quick wave of the gray clad man's hand.

Peeking up at him with a partially uncovered eye, Shippou asked curiously, " Why are they behaving this way? When Kagome and Sango wake up like that things are gonna get pretty ugly around here for InuYasha and Miroku."

Cu' stood up. Firmly tucking Shippou rump forward under his left arm, so that the Kitsune's head was completely covered by the long cascade of the Guardian's thick silver gray hair, he casually strolled over to assess exactly how far along certain things had progressed.

"Hey, I can't see anything but a big wad of hair," Shippou protested loudly, as he tried unsuccessfully to squirm out of Cu's unyielding grip.

" You're a little kid, you aren't supposed to see anything. Now quit wiggling, you're not getting down." Carefully surveying both pair of entwined couples the Guardian satisfied himself that no one had actually managed to reach a point they would most certainly regret, if only out of embarrassment, should they ever be made aware of it.

" In answer to your question..they are behaving this way because of my presence." Cu' took a deep breath and with palm held rigidly upright swept his hand across the area of the camp while at the same time loosening a little of his aura. A bright white light briefly flashed around him, making Shippou suddenly thankful for the convenient protection his eyes were afforded by the dark silver curtain of hair in front of his face. " Your four friends are bound souls, my dear Shippou."

"What are bound souls?" Once the light died away, Shippou began trying to push his way through Cu's hair so that he could at least see something. He figured that asking questions might divert the Guardian's attention away from what he was doing.

Cu' felt the tiny fingers sifting through his hair and smiled at the kit's tenacity. " They are souls who reincarnate together, growing closer with each lifetime until they ultimately become one single perfect entity. The souls of Kagome and InuYasha are very close to becoming just such a soul."

Shippou stopped parting hair, " That can't be right...InuYasha loves Kagome, but the big moron is in love with Kikyou too."

" His mortal self may have some confusion on the issue, but his essence does not. His soul is bound to Kagome's. With me here, they are able to freely recognize each other in a way that they presently can't at this point in their mortal lives."

Swinging the kit around, Cu' set the child down on the ground beside him. The limb entangled couples spilling out of their disarrayed clothing had vanished. Miroku and Sango were sleeping peacefully in their respective bedrolls at a respectable distance from each other. Kagome lay curled up in the downy comfort of her sleeping bag and InuYasha could be seen draped along the thick lower branch of a large tree just at the edge of the campfire's glow. It all looked perfectly normal, perfectly ordinary and Shippou sighed with disappointment.

" Sure wish I had my crayons right now.."

" It's probably better that you don't. If I understand it correctly, your artistic endeavours this afternoon were the major cause of a bit of a fuss." Cu' smiled down at him, "and if you're thinking about immortalizing tonight at some future date..."

Shippou flashed a sly little grin, then quickly composed his face into a mask of sweet innocence.

" You wont remember a bit of it," Cu' finished with a smirk.

" Huh? Whadda you mean by that?"

" That's another effect of being around me in while in a corporeal body, you never remember the experience except maybe as a pleasant dream. Why do you think I told you all this stuff?"

" Because I wont remember any of it?" A small scowl darkened the Kit's normally sunny face. "Well that just sucks."

" I know you hang around InuYasha but try not to pick up too many of his crude verbal habits." Gently Cu' herded the child over to where Kirara lay sleeping between Miroku and Sango. " Now snug down and make yourself comfortable, You have a long road ahead of you tomorrow."

" I wont remember anything?" Shippou flopped down next to the Firecat and leaned against her side.

" I have already given you and the others suggestions that will serve to tweak your personalities for the better so that you may work together more cohesively as a group. I will leave each of you with a few final instructions before I go. These will come to you as ideas that you will believe to be entirely your own." Cu' knelt down next to the Kitsune and watched as he started to settle down for the night.

" Uh oh," Shippou abruptly sat back up and pointed toward the far side of the clearing where a pair of glowing white snake-like forms could be seen sinuously floating in and out among the trees. " If InuYasha wakes up and sees those Soul Collector's, he'll run off after them to find Kikyou."

" Not tonight he wont, nothing will disturb my Children from their peaceful dreams," Cu' reassured the boy. Reaching over with his left hand, he closed the Kitsune's wide green eyes then bent forward and kissed him lightly on the forehead. " Have a good sleep little Shippou," he whispered before getting to his feet and visiting all the others with a similar benediction. Not even InuYasha stretched out unconsciously upon his leafy roost was exempt from Cu's parting blessing.

Only Kirara cracked open one large red eye when Cu' returned to the center of the little camp. With a wistful smile, the Guardian looked over at the Firecat and asked softly, " Was she indeed happy?"

Kirara's quiet mew of assent satisfied him.

Drawing his slender curved sword from the silver scabbard on his hip, Cu' brandished the glowing blade aloft, swung it around in an encompassing circle, then shoved the sharp point into the dirt between his feet. A dome of pale light completely covered the camp and it's sleeping occupants, providing them with an unyielding shield against the unwanted attentions of anything malevolent which might happen by during the night.

" I wont be gone long," He told Kirara, who upon hearing this whispered reassurance contentedly lay her head back down on neatly folded paws and returned to her briefly disturbed sleep.

Cu' walked out to greet the Soul Collectors, beckoning them with open palms meet him half way. Obediently they did just that, coming to rest their sharp snouted heads on each of his outstretched hands. " It wouldn't do for you to return empty handed. Shall we go visit your mistress?"

Giving them both a gentle push, he sent the pair heading back in the direction they had come from, cast one glance over his shoulder at the quiet camp slumbering under the glow of a softly crackling fire, then followed Kikyou's pale messengers into the shadows beneath the trees.


	13. Chapter 13

**Sorry about the wait on this chapter, between work and playing with my new toy I was very...very naughty. My toy is an Intuos 4 tablet that lets me draw on my computer. If any of you would care to see my artistic interpretations of some of the characters of InuYasha I have added links to the sites where I post my artwork on my profile page..they are well known legitimate sites....just scroll down to find them, that's right they are at the bottom of all that prattle... well enough of the shameful plugs. Hope those of you who check them out enjoy:)**

** Again I apologize for making you wait...if you catch a typo or two..I wanted to get this out before leaving for work today..my faithful readers have waited quite long enough.**

**Again I would also like to say that I make no profit of any type from this story..Only Cu' is mine..everyone else in the InuYasha universe rightfully belongs to the very talented Rumiko Takahashi.**

Chapter Fourteen

She waited because it was something that she had learned to do very well. Adrift in a lonely existence, caught half way between the desires of a mortal life and the detachment of the netherworld, she found that there was really not much else to do, but wait. Wait for the sunrise. Wait for the shadows to lengthen into dusk. Wait for the sunset. Wait for the moon to make it's solitary journey across the night sky. Wait for the Shinidamachuu to return bearing their perpetual harvest of souls so that she might find within herself the energy to wait some more.

Sometimes she would pass a few days in one of the tiny villages scattered throughout the region. In those poor places, among humble people she could once again feel useful tending to their sick or teaching their children herb lore. This was the good work that she knew from before, it was what she had been trained to do so long ago. Traveling between those quiet little villages, populated mostly by simple farmers and craftsmen, she quickly realized that people were always happy to see Lady Kikyou, the kind Miko with the soft voice and gentle hands. Invariably after a few days they would beg her to stay and make a home with them. Sadly such offers were only little more than a tempting prize dangling just beyond her reach. Always the shimmering Shinidamachuu weaving in and out among the distant trees served as a reminder that for her the peaceful life as a village Miko was not a viable option. Teaching children and tending the sick was no longer enough to fulfill her.

It was the amaroidal fruit of harvested souls seasoned with the acrid taste of hate that now sustained her. Hatred for the callousness of an undeserved fate which had allowed her to be resurrected within this imprisoning husk of ashes and grave soil. Hatred for the fact that stolen souls were now the only type of nourishment her ever hungry form would accept. Hatred for the hanyou who had seemingly rewarded her love for him with death, then unwittingly called her back into life to be trapped within this loathsome shell. Rancor and adoration fought their silent battle inside her heart as she was forced to bear witness to his continuous betrayal of her affection as he dallied with a pitiful copy of what she had once been.

Paramount on the list was her seething animosity towards a deceitful man, a twisted creature to whom she had naively offered the healing hand of compassion. Instead of being grateful he had given up his evil soul to a host of demons, then found satisfaction in the complete destruction of her dreams. That which was called Naraku had become the unblinking eye centered in her web of hatred, lurking there, like the spider that he was, as a dark mockery of all that she had once held dear in her heart.

Tonight, at least for a while, she would not wait alone. Two of her soul collectors had already been dispatched to search for InuYasha. The fickle half demon could pretend all he wanted that the strange girl who accompanied him on shard hunts actually meant something to him, but it was really laughable how this notion was so predictably dispelled whenever the Shinidamachuu appeared upon his horizon. No matter how upset his leaving made that silly little girl, Kikyou knew with certainty that InuYasha would willingly follow those sinuous white messengers whenever they were sent to call him.

He was Inu Hanyou and had made a vow to her, promised her his unfailing protection, promised to see her avenged. Funny how her faultlessly wise and deeply aware living self had failed to fully appreciate just how truly honorable he was. Perhaps things would have turned out quite differently had she trusted in him just a little more, looked less prejudicially upon the surface youkai and perceived more of the honest essence at the core of the man's heart. Ironically it took death to finally enable her to recognize the utter lack of duplicity in him. She knew now, that InuYasha would never have lied to her, would never have betrayed her, would never have raised a hand to hurt her. Never..never..

She understood him so much better now and loved him for that honest strength, loved him for what he was in a way she could never have managed to attain during her life...but...

...Now he had betrayed her with his love for another and she hated him for that. As a living creature he was naturally drawn to the warmth of that vibrantly alive girl, that contemptible copy of a priestess, Kagome. Shadowing her footsteps, watching over her with a jealous diligence, protecting her from all threats, it was plain to see that he was already deeply in love...

Kikyou eyes flashed angrily as that stinging truth trickled through her well built dam of denial. Even though the priorities of his heart were inexorably slipping away from her, she would make sure that his new love felt the same deep pain of longing she was forced to endure. Every time he answered the call of the Shinidamachuu, her rival's pride suffered another bitter wound. The Miko knew that as long as she refused to relinquish the hold over him that his personal honor demanded he give her, InuYasha's heart would never be fully free to express his devotion to Kagome.

With the return of those last two soul collectors the cold comfort of this night would, for a time, be relieved. The approach of a familiar aura preceded the pair of pale snakelike forms floating into the clearing like ribbons dancing on a light breeze, telling her that once again that the hanyou had not found sufficient reason within his conscience to resist her subtle summons.

She smiled upon catching sight of a tall figure whose long hair and upright ears shone silvery white in the moonlight as it silently stepped from beneath the boughs of an ancient Sugi. Yes, her despised rival had received yet another cut tonight. The hard mask of her countenance softened as she turned to greet her expected guest. A radical shift in the familiar aura caused her salutation to die before it passed her lips as she realized that her Shinidamachuu had returned with someone other than InuYasha.

" He wont be visiting you tonight, Child," the deep clear voice made her eyes widen slightly in surprise, "Since the young man had a very trying day I felt that he deserved a night of undisturbed sleep."

Stilling her features back into an unreadable mask, Kikyou regarded her visitor with flat dark eyes.

"Guardian, why have you chosen to interfere between me and what is mine?"

"I have interfered with nothing that is yours." Without hesitation, he walked over to stand next to her, close enough that she could easily see the glittering depths of his moonlit irises.

"Then why have you come in place of InuYasha?"There was a hint of annoyance souring her tone.

" He is a creature of free will and as such, is not your property." The Guardian smiled benignly down at her. " The only legitimate claim you have on him is his honorable offer of protection."

" You are wrong. He loves me above all others..." The conviction in her voice wavered under the sharp scrutiny of the Guardian's level silver-eyed gaze.

Cu' shook his head slowly, his eyes never leaving her own,"Only his mortal persona still loves the memory of you. For that part of him what you shared together is still fresh.."

She interrupted him, the angry flash of her eyes giving lie to the well schooled mask of her face, "You have forgotten then that our souls are bound together.."

"No, they are not. Not any more. Your bond was broken." He watched as the anger roiling in her eyes changed to profound shock, "That claim upon him died with your mortal body, Child. What was once your soul, his Other, passed on to reincarnate in the future and is now manifested within the girl Kagome."

The abhorrent thought of having lost not only her soul but the object of her heart's desire as well to the flighty child tortured her lips with a sneer,"She is but a poor copy..."

Cu's reply cut her to the quick,"It is you who are the copy, Kagome is the soul's only true vessel now."

A venomous fury flared within her. Shaking her head vehemently she took several steps back to put some semblance of distance between her and the slender figure towering over her. "No! No. You are lying to me..I know the truth...I have the greater spiritual power. I have all the memories....I..."

" You retain your former spiritual power because I allow you to do so. You have the memories belonging to the body that was called back into life by Urasue." With a single step he closed the gap her retreat had created. " Since those memories were fully reawakened during the reinfusion of the soul it would have been too dangerous to return them in that state to Kagome. Her personality would have suffered a schism at being suddenly forced to compete with the complete memories of a former life." The Guardian continued to look deeply into her eyes, " Besides, it was necessary to allow the memories of Kikyou to continue on independently in the newly constructed body to prevent the malignancy that had been excised out of the original soul from trying to return to the source."

"What needed to be excised?" Kikyou was clearly puzzled by this revelation. "What could be so important that I must endure to walk upon this earth as one of the undead?"

" Burning the Shikon No Tama with your mortal remains was an brilliantly intuitive way to keep it out of the hands of the wrong party until the proper time." Cu' idly caressed one of the soul collectors as it floated between him and it's mistress. Attracted by the attention being paid to the one, another slid it's head beneath the Guardian's free hand. " Unfortunately, doing so left an unmistakable blemish on the soul's purity. Urasue was only permitted to obtain the knowledge to call you back so that the Jewel's negative influence could be completely removed."

Her eyes narrowed speculatively, " I am forced to live the half life of a revenant because you needed to remove a blemish?" The Miko's aura began to crackle around her slender form as she waited for Cu's answer. Much to her annoyance he seemed not the least bit concerned about such an overtly threatening display.

" Basically..yes." His voice was still gentle, but a hint of amusement at her show of defiance sparkled deep in his eyes. "When Kagome recalled her soul all the tainted negativity left by the presence of the Shikon Jewel remained within the body you now reside in. It was the primary reason why you were so driven by such an overwhelming sense of hatred initially. However, since I despise waste, the original soul was bidden not to entirely forsake you. Enough of it's purity was left behind to act as a counterbalance so that the new soul you have become wouldn't fall immediately into the hands of Chaos before having time to safely establish itself as a separate entity."

"It was all your idea then that I must suffer this punishment because of an well meaning mistake?" Bitterness marked her lovely features as her shoulders sagged in resignation.

" Of course it was. I couldn't allow such a virulent stain to remain where it was." Cu' enfolded the unresisting Miko in his arms, " Besides it isn't necessarily a punishment."

" Not a punishment ?" her voice was partially muffled against his shoulder. " I would certainly like to know exactly what you are choosing to call it. Why didn't you just let me die after that girl reclaimed my soul?"

" To do so would have resulted in the blemish returning to where it had just been removed. Time and distance were needed to insure that wouldn't happen." Cu' lay his cheek against the top of her head.

" Make no mistake my dear Miko had I wanted you dead, you would not have survived the fall from the mountainside. Had I not plans for you, the Shinidamachuu would have never appeared to do your bidding. Every soul brought to you through their harvest comes only because it is my will for it to do so."

" How it must gall you to lose them in order to torture me." Her laugh was dry and mirthless.

" We both know that Souls do not die. Those brought to you have wisely chosen to help you during this time of trial. They will all return to me when the time comes, as will you."

"Why?" She looked up into his silver eyes, her pale face sparkling with tear streaks in the moonlight.

" It was necessary to create you in order for balance to be preserved." He smiled down at her and lightly caressed her cheek with his long tapered fingers, " Already you have lost some of the hatred that fueled you in the beginning. The purity of your newly formed soul and the potency of your spiritual powers have already begun to destroy the taint which you were left to contend with. Remembering your love of the hanyou gave both of these things the strength to start you along the path of redemption."

Kikyou's eyes clouded over," But I would drag him into hell with me.."

Remembering the Kitsune's questions earlier in the evening he decided that one metaphysical discussion was quite enough for the night so Cu' merely smiled indulgently," No, I believe you have already tried that little trick, haven't you?

With a guilty nod Kikyou cast her eyes down toward the ground.

" And when you did he heard the voice of his Other calling him back to reality, did he not? No matter what you may try..her voice will always call him back."

Kikyou sighed, then asked the question she already knew the answer to," There is no chance that he and I can ever be together?"

" None, although he will try and protect you. InuYasha remembers his love for you and it is not a memory that he is capable of treating lightly. The drive to protect those he cares about is at the very heart of his nature..."

" I need no one to protect me, I am fully capable of taking care of myself." Pushing out of Cu's encircling arms, Kikyou stepped back and away from him.

" As I fully intended you to be.."

Her face once again an impassive mask she reached up a hand to stroke a passing soul collector as it released it's glowing burden above her head " Should this body cease to function, would my soul reunite with Kagome's?"

" You are a new and independent soul so, no it would not. Neither would you regain that of Kagome's should something happen to her." Cu's eyes were steely as he captured the Miko's full attention. "I would be most displeased should you try a repetition of your earlier attempt on the girl's life."

Kikyou's wan face seemed to grow even paler in surprise that he could so easily see through to her intent.

Once again he closed the distance between them, this time preventing her further retreat by backing her up against the trunk of a tree. " Such an event would constitute a set back in my plans and...well if you think how you are living now is unpleasant, I can promise you an eternity of far worse lives should you ignore this warning."

" It is unbecoming of a Guardian to threaten one of his charges," she said coolly as another burdenless Shinidamachuu perched lightly on the index finger of her outstretched left hand.

" And it is foolish for an infant soul to try and press it's luck." Releasing a burst of his aura Cu' sent the band of soul collectors reeling away from the clearing like a flock of frightened birds. " You were once a woman of great wisdom and unfailing purity." Cu' leaned over her, the dark silver silk of his hair falling like a heavy curtain around her face. " These things, even now, still exist within you. I trust you to make the correct decisions regarding your future course of action. In spite of what your jealous heart believes you have only one enemy and his name is not Kagome."

Kikyou looked up into his eyes, " I know exactly who the enemy is and will continue my work to bring about his downfall."

" Then I shall be content that you will do so. The time has come to forget past regrets and recognize that you can never again have what simply is no longer yours. Free yourself of those shackles, complete your tasks and gain the redemption you truly crave." Leaning forward slightly Cu' pressed his lips lightly to her forehead. " Be free my Kikyou," he whispered in a voice that only she could hear.

Like sinuously weaving ghosts the soul collectors returned to her once more, bearing their glowing purloined harvest. The sky was already pinking above a cloud littered horizon as the silvery gibbous moon began it's final dip toward the purple ridge of mountains in the west.

She waited because it was something that she had learned to do very well. She waited for the sunrise, waited as the first radiant bolt of light shot up through the low lying clouds blanketing the eastern lip of the world, waited as the first birds of the new morning opened their throats in song, waited for an instant to set aside the nameless ache in her still heart and then she began to walk.

Perhaps it was time to do more than just wait. Perhaps it was time to go seeking the enemy once again. Ringed by her silent white escort she slipped beneath the edge of the trees following a path which headed toward the distant mountains of the north.

Oh, yes...this was nice...no..more than nice..this was...fantastic. InuYasha tried to snuggle closer to Kagome as he hugged her tightly in his arms. Shifting his hips suggestively, he sought the warmth of her mouth with his own, the tip of his tongue tracing tentatively across her lower lip. ' Oh, Kagome,' his sigh got an answer.

" InuYasha?"

He moaned slightly at the sound of her voice calling his name and tried to tease her lips open with his tongue.

" InuYasha?"

"Give it up Kagome," he whispered softly.

"InuYasha! Hey!.." Something hit him on the side of the head, " Hey!" It hit him again.

That second soft blow snatched him from a very pleasant dream into a rather awkward reality. It was probably a blessing that his arms were wrapped so tightly around the limb below him because had he been less securely attached to his perch his startled reaction at being jarred awake would probably have sent him hurtling toward the ground.

Once again something hit him on the side of the head. " Hey! I don't even want to know why you're licking that branch. Would you just get down here and have some breakfast so we can go?" Since it was Kagome's voice that drifted up to him it was a pretty safe bet she was the one tossing missiles at his head as well. Whatever it was she was tossing hit him again.

"Oi Wench, stop throwing shit at me," he raised up enough to glare at her over the edge of the limb and got hit right between the eyes. "Damn it, would you quit that? And I wasn't licking anything either."

" Were too, you mumbled something in your sleep and gave that tree limb a big sloppy lick." She drew back her right arm and a rolled up ball of socks sailed upwards towards his head.

InuYasha intercepted the offending socks with a quick catch, " A ha..got it..what?" he sniffed. "You been throwing your dirty socks at me?"

Kagome just looked up at him and chuckled. "Well they got you to wake up didn't they? Come on down, we still have plenty of fish leftover from last night..." she turned and began to walk away." How many did you catch yesterday anyway ?"

' I caught fish yesterday?...When?' The sight of her retreating figure tossed that thought out of his sleep fogged head and replaced it with a better one.

" Hey!" Something soft hit her squarely on the head. " No fair you, my back was turned..." She whirled around, found herself nosing into InuYasha's red clad chest and made a little squeaking sound of surprise.

"And I was asleep, so that makes us even." he stared down at her with a devilish smirk playing around the corners of his mouth, " and I only hit you once."

" But it was from behind.." she countered.

" Well your eyes weren't closed.." he loomed over her, trying to intimidate her with his size.

" And I wasn't licking a tree." She stuck out her tongue, spun back around and flounced over to join the others seated around the newly revived campfire.

" I wasn't licking no damn tree." He stomped over to the fire and plopped down next to her with a suitably indignant huff.

" Were too.."

" Was not.."

" Too.."

" Not! "

"Well I for one had a wonderful night's sleep," in an effort to postpone what could only be called ' 'The Inevitable', Miroku inserted himself into the rapidly deteriorating conversation then looked hopefully around for others to drag in as well, " What about you my dear Sango? How did you sleep?"

Taking his cue, the demonslayer nodded eagerly, " Yes, I slept very well, I cant remember when I've had such a peaceful night."

The pair having their morning argument sat silently each giving a wary eye to their suddenly vocal companions.

" Anybody wonder how I slept?" Shippou asked through a mouthful of fish.

" Did you have a good night too?" Sango turned a bright eyed face to the Kitsune who nodded his his head enthusiastically in answer to her question.

" Sock tosser.."

" Tree licker.."

" Whats on the agenda for this fine morning? Miroku smiled broadly as he tried to ignore the mumbled insults sneaking out across the campfire.

" Spy.."

" Sniper."

"Kagome did mention that she needed to go home to get more supplies," Sango pointed out cheerfully.

"And me some more crayons," Added the still chewing kit, "and a new sketch book. I wonder what happened to the other ones? You don't think I left them behind somewhere do you?"

" Whats a fuckin sniper?"

" Someone who shoots you when your back is turned..."

Miroku took a deep breath " and Lady Kagome, didn't you say something about a test in your school this week?"

Sango nodded, " I believe she did say that. A math test ..right Kagome?"

" Yeah? Well what do they call someone who pelts a guy in the head with dirty socks while he's mindin' his own business sleepin' ?"

" A non tree licker.."

" I wasn't...what test?" InuYasha's yellow eyes snapped from Kagome's face to Miroku's then back to Kagome's. " You just had one of those damn things last week. Since when do you have another.."The skewered fish slapping him across the mouth effectively silenced the fuming hanyou.

"Eat your breakfast," Kagome purred as one of her more dangerous looks began to creep over her pretty little face, " We're not going to argue about that this morning."

InuYasha took a big bite out of the fish, chewed it a couple of times, swallowed then figuring his courage had built up enough growled back at her softly, " I didn't want fish for breakfast..I want Ramen."

Kagome blinked and arched an eyebrow speculatively. Anyone with at least one functioning ear couldn't miss the sound of gears whirring and snapping right into place.

" So, it's all settled then." Chirped the girl, her voice suddenly overly bright and happy "We'll head back to Kaede's, I can go home for more supplies, get lots of RAMEN," she laughed a bit nervously, "and take that math test I have been trying to study for all week."

InuYasha stared at her through slitted eyes over the top of his fish, " Sneaky wench.."

" If you want noodles you'll keep your mouth shut and let me go." Surprisingly she turned to look up at him with one of her sparkling 'to die for' smiles and the thought crossed his mind that for once he hadn't had to do anything to wrangle it out of her. A tiny smile ghosted around the corners of his mouth in answer.

" How long are you planning on being gone?" he asked her calmly.

Miroku's eyes almost popped out of his head and he turned to glance at an equally astonished Sango. Shippou stopped chewing, his green eyes staring in puzzlement as he contemplated the hanyou's less than volatile reaction to Kagome's proposed trip home.

" Two days?" Kagome's look was hopeful. Unconsciously she began to twirl the necklace holding her shard vial around her fingers. 'Say yes...please' she begged him silently '...please for once don't argue..'

InuYasha stared back at her, a slight frown furrowing his brow. He didn't want her to go away for any days. Whenever she was out of his sight things just didn't feel right. He wanted to jump up and shout 'hell no' but the realization hit him that such a reaction wouldn't do any good. She'd just get mad, sit him, then go home anyway...just like she always did...and he wouldn't get to see that glorious smile again for a while.

" Promise only two?" he asked softly.

She gave him that smile again and his heart melted into a gooey puddle on the spot.

" I promise. Thank you InuYasha," she leaned over and gave him a big hug and the dog boy was transported straight to heaven.

" I suppose we should break camp and be on our way then," the monk said with a grin. He gave quick glance in Sango's direction to make sure he wasn't the only one aware of the blissfully sappy expression plastered across the normally scowling face of their hanyou friend. Sango was hiding her own grin of amusement behind a very ladylike hand.

Still elated that InuYasha had given in to her proposal about going home without a fight, Kagome twirled the shard necklace once more around her finger then glanced down at the little vial before tucking it safely away under her blouse. Her brown eyes widened in shock.

" What's wrong Kagome?" The sudden change in her expression tendered instant concern in the hanyou. His large yellow eyes scanned over her rapidly in an effort to see what had caused her abrupt shift in mood.

She was staring at the tiny vial cupped in her hand. " Look, I know we only had three shards yesterday, but now there are four.." Kagome held the vial up by it's chain so that he could see into it clearly. Four jagged pink slivers of the Shikon Jewel sparkled in their tiny glass prison.

" Where did it come from? I don't remember us getting any shard yesterday.." InuYasha scratched the back of his head as he peered at the vial. The others crowded around to get a look at the new shard as well.

" The lizard we were chasing had one...didn't it?" Sango asked quietly. " Wasn't that why we went after it?"

" I don't remember if we killed it though," Miroku frowned as he tried to recall the exact events of the day before. " Or if we recovered a shard.."

" I remember chasing that ugly bastard but I sure as hell don't remember killing it...or catching all these damned fish either." InuYasha scowled at the thought that somehow he had managed to misplace most of a day. For once he wasn't the only one wearing such a dark look since everyone else was now clustered around the fire wearing similar expressions as they all tried to recall just how they had come to be camped at this particular spot with an extra shard in their possession.

After a while the monk let out a prolonged sigh, " It appears that even though none of us can remember anything that happened..we did somehow manage to get lucky and recover another shard."

" Maybe the lizard emitted some kind of poisonous vapor that caused us to lose our memories," Sango said quietly. " It wouldn't be unusual for a youkai of that type to be able to do something like that."

The others all nodded silently in agreement at the demonslayer's suggestion. Since they were all in equal ignorance about the sequence of events following their sighting of the shard bearing lizard it made perfect sense that they had somehow come into contact with something that had affected them all. Some kind of poisonous, mind altering vapor was a perfectly logical assumption. At least it didn't appear to be any of Naraku's doing, as it was, after all, highly unlikely that they would have turned up shard heavy had they run into him.

As they sat around the fire, finishing up their breakfast and contemplating a lost day a snide little voice piped up, " So, InuYasha, just how much of your memory have you gotten back?"

"Whadda you mean Shippou?" A small cautious voice in the back of his mind told him not to rise to the bait, but of course he ignored it.

" Well..Just what were you thinking of while you were licking up that branch this morning?" The Kitsune had already eased his sneaky little self over to the far side of Kagome.

InuYasha took a deep breath in as the sound of cracking knuckles split the air. It seemed like he was going to have a side of dirt for breakfast this morning after all. He only hoped to be quick enough to give the Kit at least one well deserved thump on the head before 'The Inevitable' caught up with him.


	14. Chapter 15

**For those of you who are terribly confused about what I have done..this really is Chapter 15..because the Document manager wouldn't let me upload more than 15 documents I combined chapters 1 and 2 into a single chapter and renumbered the others...confused..yes I am..if anyone knows how to get around this little empass please..any advice would be most appreciated.**

**Again the wonderful characters of InuYasha belong to Rumiko Takahashi. I gain nothing but the enjoyment of writing from this story.**

Chapter Fifteen

" I really should congratulate you on sending out such an interesting choice of emissaries this time," the intrusive voice in Cu's inner ear slyly chuckled. " To think that they were actually competent enough to bring down seven of my most talented converts as well as survive the complete destruction of a sacred mountain leaves me almost speechless in awe..." There was no mistaking the facetiousness oozing like a thick sticky resin through the speaker's voice, " I'm impressed, Guardian..really I am."

" If that twisted assortment of souls represent what you refer to as 'talent' these days, then this isn't going to be much of a contest, is it?" Cu' stretched lazily and settled against against the low boulder he was currently using as a backrest. " By the way I'll be reclaiming that particular bunch of 'converts' when this is all over. It really is a crime the way you warp and misinform infant souls."

Drifting down as lightly as a falling leaf the speaker seemed to settle on the grass beside the boulder just to Cu's right. With an indignant huff it gave voice to a rather irritated sounding protest," I just show them the truth...how limited order is as an actual function within the universe.. Open their eyes to how the physical cosmos really works.."

The Guardian leaned his head slightly toward the unseen speaker and replied in a low and even voice, " You show them lies in order to keep them from their natural advancement. You damn them to make the same mistakes over and over so that they cannot perceive you for what you truly are."

" I am as necessary to the dance of creation as you are Guardian..." Irritation took a quick backseat to indignation as the point from which the speaker's voice seemed to emanate rose rapidly to hover above Cu's still inclined head.

A faint trace of a smile curled up along the left corner of Cu's mouth at his invisible visitor's rapid loss of temper. With a sigh he whispered, " In your appointed place, yes you are very necessary...but the Guardianship of Souls was never meant to be one of your duties."

" Why shouldn't it be?" By now stirred into a definite pique the hovering voice boasted defiantly , " I can guide them along every bit as well as you."

" I have already given you my opinion on that matter and as usual you are too busy listening to the sound of your own ranting to heed the counsel of another." Cu' rested his folded arms across his chest. " Souls that have been free to mature as they normally should will always have the advantage when dealing with the stunted ones you employ. It was no surprise at all to me that they defeated the seven and it will come as no surprise to me when they take down your king as well. They've blown that little bastard into pieces how many times now?"

" You confuse true skill with luck, Cu'. How blind you have become... falling prey to that childish fallacy," At that moment somewhere in the universe there was an immortal being who's perfect face was twisted into so hideous a sneer that the expression easily came through in the speaker's ice riddled tone.

" One of us is certainly a bit confused right now, but it isn't me," with a benign smile Cu' used his calm demeanor and soft voice to further goad his opponent, " I know the souls I have sent out will make the right choices. They will defeat whatever you choose to send against them..."

" Oh, I don't think so," the speaker snapped back, " While that little group of yours is certainly determined, I think it will only be a matter of time before I start adding them to my collection as well." Giving a smug little laugh the voice seemed to move as if the speaker were pacing slowly back and forth in front of the Guardian, " You released a only handful to do the work of a god. How damn effective can a few sniveling mortal lives be? Tell me Cu', in the end how will your half of a squad be able to stand fast when confronted by my whole army?"

" Probably in the same way that they have done in the past, by blowing it into tiny smoldering bits. You know, your army tends to look good spread out in steaming lumps upon the ground.."

" I really do hate you Cu'," The voice stopped moving for a moment, " and I am so going to enjoy watching you cry over your losses this time."

" Tell me, did you just happen to notice that I was sitting here enjoying myself and decide to pop out of the woodwork to try and spoil my quiet time or do you actually have something meaningful to say?" Folding his hands behind his head and the Guardian leaned back and gazed skyward at a bank of thunderheads slowly building under the unrelenting heat of the mid afternoon sun.

" Very funny...what are you doing out here that's so important? Watching a few measly clouds roll by? Cu' you're the only deity I know who could actually get some kind of cheap thrill watching paint dry." Like some invisible snake the voice slithered over to coil up next to the Guardian's right shoulder. " I bet you do just that..don't you..watch paint dry," A scratchy whisper stirred the fine hairs along the edge of Cu's ear. " If...if I really wanted to spoil things for you, I'd manifest right here next to you. Then you'd be forced to chat with me face to face."

An agreeable grin stretched across the Guardian's face. " Then by all means be my guest, I'm giving you a one time invitation to manifest...right here...right now...go on..do it..," there was a good humored twinkle lighting the depths of Cu's eyes, " I believe watching a minor implosion would be a more than amusing way to liven up my day. Tell me do you think you'll disappear through the vacuous hole of your mouth..or just shrivel up inside your own ass?"

Something that sounded curiously like a cross between a disgruntled snort and a rude guffaw rang out in the sultry afternoon air. " I could offer you the same invitation to my realm.."

" Why do you think I'd want to visit you? I get enough of your company with these little intrusions you so thoughtfully make all the time. It's you who are always coming around to bother me. I have yet to go seek you out just to be annoying." Cu' shook his head then laughed simply to irritate the speaker. "For someone who just professed their hatred, you can't seem to get your fill of me." Lazily waving his right hand, the Guardian caused a small cooling breeze to spring up. " While I really dislike disappointing most beings, except for you, try to remember one tiny thing , I'm immortal. If all of this meaningless conversation is only another shallow attempt to bore me to death then, like everything else you do, it's just another losing battle."

" Pfft...say, tell me..." Realizing that the current subject wasn't eliciting quite the response from the Guardian that the speaker had hoped for, the sly intruder decided to change topics."What was the big idea saving that dead priestess again? You got plans for her or something?" A poorly disguised note of calculation marked this not so subtle inquiry, "I mean, what good can a dead soul eater possibly do for your cause?"

" All you need to know is that I thought painfully dissolving away in a stinking river of miasma to be a sorry way to end an already sadly unfortunate life," Cu' seemed to roll a thought around in his head briefly before adding, " Well, except for those pitiful creations you insist on sending out...for them a miasma bath probably would be considered a mercy killing."

" You do have plans for her, don't you?" The voice eased around the boulder behind him. " Let's see, you've already saved her little baked clay carcass twice, made sure she has a shitload of power at her disposal...Why does she need all of that spiritual power Cu'? Why?" There was the low hiss next to his left ear. " Because...that's your trump this time isn't it?...that gravesoil Miko. Your plan is to try to take out my king with your dead queen."

"Really, it's no such thing.." Cu' weakly protested with a hesitant catch in his throat. Fully aware that while the speaker could easily pick up on the nuances coloring his voice, it was blind to the expressions playing across his face, the Guardian smiled broadly, wiggled his fingers and watched with gratification as the slowly building clouds picked up their pace. "This place is a long overdue for a nice bit of rain," he muttered under his breath.

Ignoring his off subject comment the voice continued to pursue it's line of reasoning "Oh, don't lie to me Cu'. I've already killed her off once and you let her be brought back as a revenant. Hmm...Why didn't I see that before...if she wasn't so important, you'd never have had her resurrected in that manner." Another low sly chuckle erupted from the empty space occupied by the oily voice. " She and that half breed warrior are connected souls, aren't they?...oh, Cu'..you sent out a pair of Others to fight me this time. Now I really am sincerely touched."

Seemingly oblivious to the prying speaker on his shoulder, Cu' scanned the horizon for another promising raft of clouds. A fluffy white cluster sailing serenely over the valley caught his eye and he began to coax them into building up as well.

" Are they close? Well are they? You know your silence is just as enlightening as a holy mountain full of information, Cu'," A definite hint of greed crept into the voice, " This pair of Others...Are they close to becoming?....maybe close enough to be a Guardian soul in the making?" Shifting around like a small eddy in the breeze the voice let loose a throaty cackle. " It would really piss you off if I stole them away from you...wouldn't it? Should be easy enough to do with closely bound souls...Kill the queen again and the warrior will fall out of grief. I'll just make it a point to be around to snap up them up when their souls are caught in those dying moments of despair...."

" As usual you are much more convinced of your capabilities than I ever will be." Cu' dismissively brushed off his left shoulder, " Trying to second guess me will be your downfall."

" You are so damned predictable Cu'," the speaker spat out contemptuously as it moved away from the Guardian, " You've gambled everything on a queen before and lost. This time won't be any different."

Slender fingers coaxing the flattening cloudtops higher, Cu' merely rolled his eyes as a definite snicker sounded from the area behind his left ear.

" I'll take out your dead queen when I find where you have hidden her and then your warrior. Tell me, what will you be left with after I clear those two off the board? A band of children trying to fight a giant!" There was a growing confidence apparent in the haughty sounding voice that was once again on the move. "And all this time I thought it was only the warrior and his immediate companions that constituted the real threat. But you know in spite of being your emissaries, that bunch is truly so full of anger and doubt that it will only serve to make my own trump stronger in the end." A wild peal of laughter swung back around the far side of the boulder to hover again behind Cu's right ear. " I'm going to claim those souls, twist them up, tear them asunder and send them back to haunt you...are they all as precious to you as the dead Miko and her warrior? The truth Cu'...Will you grieve for them as you did for the lost queen? Will you..."

With a hard snap of his fingers, Cu' abruptly stilled the annoying voice, "The queen isn't lost," he said softly to no one but himself. " We are merely waiting to reclaim what you have stolen."

In the distance a jagged bolt of lightening split the dark shadows gathered beneath the towering anvil topped clouds. After a long minute the sound of thunder rumbled across a valley still pleasantly dozing in the afternoon sun as the breeze playing with Cu' silver colored hair freshened and brought with it the watery scent of distant rain. Sitting comfortably against his rocky cushion, the Guardian serenely watched the early fall storm play out across the valley as it moved majestically toward the east. As if trying to outrace their more impressive brothers, smaller clouds skirted along the edges of the thunderheads, their flight casting rapidly moving shadows across the blanket of thick verdant meadow grass covering the hillside stretching out below him. Rippling in long overlapping silken waves the green and gold blades moved in a sensuous rhythm under the hand of the wind stirred up by the passing storm. Closing his eyes, Cu' let the scent of the rain on the mist laden air wash over him as he patiently waited for an ever roaming group of his favorite children.

She could hear him calling out for her in that rickety high pitched voice laced with undisguised irritation but for the moment the weaving of a handful of yellow and white flowers into a keepsake for her Lord took precedence over the demands of a little green imp. Cheerfully engrossed in her project the little girl half hummed, half sang a sweetly simple song that was nothing more than a childish paean to the future recipient of her emblossomed gift. She was happy to be able to offer him these simple treasures that were born out of the love in her heart because of all the beings inhabiting the earth, her Lord was the only one that was deserving of her unwavering devotion and profound respect.

In a distant past, before him, there had been another life which now lay now half forgotten under the silent shadows of grief and misery. She had not been sorry to leave it behind. Her life was so much brighter now since he had called her away from that old existence. It was as if her eyes had been fully opened to the beauty inherent in the world around her the first time she had looked up into eyes as golden as the sun set in a pale solemn face glowing with the translucence of moonlight. He had gazed back at her with an odd mixture of curiosity, relief and satisfaction stirring in the depths of those sunlight colored eyes, although no one but the keenly observant child would have ever discerned even the faintest hint of emotion on his perfectly immobile face. With that look, in that moment and even though still only a small child, in her heart she had fallen in love with him. It was something that was forever, that she knew was meant to be and her one unspoken wish was that he would not leave her behind before she had a chance to grow up and tell him how she truly felt about him.

Finally satisfied that her garland was finished the child placed it on her head with a delighted giggle, stood up, brushed her hands together and started to set out in the direction from which she had last heard Master Jaken's high pitched voice. The smokey scent of a newly started campfire stopped her in her tracks. Thinking that perhaps the imp had given up in his search and decided to cook something for dinner instead the little girl followed her nose down the hill to where a large boulder sat like a solitary monument overlooking the valley below. Peeking around the stony outcropping, she was surprised to see not the ever irritable Master Jaken but a tall silver haired man that reminded her a little of her Lord and even more of her Lord's younger brother.

Cautiously she began to ease back around the rock when one of the silver haired man's upright dog-like ears swiveled in her direction. This action was quickly followed by his sparkling gray eyes sliding sideways to fix her with a curious gaze. Turning his head back over his shoulder to look at her directly, he raised his right hand, index finger crooked and motioned to his little guest to step forward.

" You have nothing to fear from me Rin," he said in a deep, quiet voice. " Please, have a seat.. would you care for some tea..perhaps a sweetened rice cake?"

An offer of food wasn't something that Rin was prepared to turn down if her Lord wasn't around to expressly forbid her acceptance of this gift of hospitality. With a shy smile she ventured over to the campfire and took a seat on the ground next to her host.

" How do you know this Rin's name?" she asked curiously. " What is your name? Are you a hanyou like my Lord's brother? Rin is not supposed to talk about him but he has ears just like yours."

With a smile the silver- haired man reached for a small kettle swinging from an iron hook over the fire " I know a great many people by name, Little Rin." Placing the kettle on the ground between his feet, he bent to fish two earthenware cups from a sack next to him. " My name is Cu' or Gin Cu' if it pleases you to call me that instead." Picking up the kettle he filled one of the cups and presented it to Rin. " I am not a very good tea maker..it may taste a bit strong..."

Rin blew on the steamy hot liquid to cool it, took a tentative sip then grinned up at Cu'. " It is fine, Rin hasn't had tea in a long time."

" Thank you," Cu' poured himself a cup, set it aside to cool,then turned his attention back to the contents of the bag. Pulling out a pair of covered lacquered boxes he removed their lids revealing one to be full of sweetened rice balls and the other of dumplings. The girl's eyes grew round with surprise.

" It smells so good," she whispered almost reverently as Cu' presented her with a pair of chopsticks.

" Help yourself," he grinned at the child who was already cramming a second dumpling into her mouth. Sipping contentedly on his tea, the Guardian watched the child plow through the tasty contents of the pair of boxes with undeniable gusto. She reminded him of a certain young hanyou who had once sat at his campfire and stuffed himself almost to the point of insensibility on river trout.

Once she began to slow down in her assault upon the rice and dumplings he restarted the conversation, " So Little Rin, why is such a young child like yourself wandering around alone in the wilderness so far away from any village?"

" Oh, Rin is not alone Lord GinCu'. Rin is out here with her Lord and Master Jaken and Aun." Sipping on her now cooled tea the girl smiled at him over the edge of her cup.

" Why you have a veritable army with you then," Cu' chuckled.

" My Lord is better than any army," the little girl declared confidently. " My lord is strong and brave and kind and wise."

" Is that who you have woven the pretty wreath of flowers for?" Pointing at the top of her head the Guardian watched the child's eyes sparkle with happiness as she nodded 'yes' enthusiastically.

" I am sure he will be very pleased with your lovely gift. May I ask you the name of your Lord?"

Rin nodded again. Setting her cup down between her feet she folded her hands primly in her lap and declared in a clear high voice, " Rin's Lord is the Ruler of the Western Lands, Lord Sesshoumaru."

Cu' looked into the eyes of the child and saw the depth of feeling that she had hidden there. He gave her a warm smile. " He certainly must be a very great Lord to command such respect as I see within you, Rin."

" This Rin owes Lord Sesshoumaru her life," she smiled back, then glanced up at the darkening sky.

" Master Jaken will be worried. Rin thanks you for the meal, but.."

" Master Jaken and your Lord will be here with us before long." Cu' poked at the fire with a stick, then refreshed the two cups of tea. " It would be better if you waited for them here, safe by the fire rather than wandering around in the woods after dark."

" How do you know they will be here soon Lord GinCu'?" Rin picked up her cup of tea, then looked up into the Guardian's silvery eyes.

" How did I know that you were named Rin?" Cu' replied as he picked up his own cup of tea.

" Are you a youkai? You don't feel like a youkai," the child blew the steam across the top of the cup as she gazed at Cu' with a puzzled frown.

" I am not a youkai, nor am I a hanyou...I am a Guardian and as such will see to it that no harm comes to you before your protector arrives."

Rin nodded apparently satisfied with his answer. She took a quick sip of tea then looked back at Cu' with her soft dark brown eyes sparkling happily. " Do you know any stories? Rin likes stories but Master Jaken isn't very good at telling them."

" I know a few." Warming his hands with his cup, Cu' leaned back against the boulder. A wickedly impish twinkle lit his glittering gray eyes, " In fact, I know one right off the top of my head you might enjoy."

" Really?" the girl scooted closer to the Guardian, her eyes fixed on his face in rapt attention, " What is it about?"

" A princess and a puppy...have you heard it?"

Rin shook her head in an emphatic ' No' and leaned forward eager to hear this new tale.

" Well," Cu' began with a grin, " A very long time ago..."


End file.
